MillerCoors has renewed its venerable MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series (MUES) and Business Plan Competition, an award-winning program that debuted in 1999 and this year will give urban and multicultural enpreneurs the opportunity to vie for $150,000 in business grants.
“The MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series (MUES) was created to help empower small urban businesses and we are proud to continue our commitment. In this tough economic climate, we recognize that entrepreneurship is the driving force to our countrys economic recovery,” said Larry Waters, director of multicultural relations for MillerCoors.”The talent we see through our competition is quite impressive and we hope that that these businesses will one day become MillerCoors suppliers,” he continued.
An integral component of MUES is the Business Plan Competition, which grants aspiring professionals start-up capital for their new or existing businesses. This years top winner will be awarded a $50,000 grant, and four others will each receive $25,000 grants. Competitors also have the opportunity to become a potential qualified MillerCoors supplier. The competition is open to participants between the ages of 21 and 35 and their business existence must not exceed five years. All entries must be submitted to http://www.MillerCoorsMUES.com by Friday, October 1, 2010 at 12:00 noon (CDT). More than 1,500 business plans have been submitted to the MUES program and more than 100 urban entrepreneurs have received support from MillerCoors. More than 50 percent of past winning business are still operating and still benefiting urban communities by providing jobs and sustaining economic growth and development.
The MUES website, http://www.MillerCoorsMUES.com, houses all MUES information such as business resources and MUES TV – which broadcasts videos giving a behind-the-scenes look at the competition, the application and instructions on how to submit a business plan. The Web site provides much-needed tools for rising entrepreneurs to start, run and expand their businesses efficiently through podcasts and links that will help them to:
— Create a workable business plan
— Understand the financials of operating a small business
— Communicate what makes their business unique
— Learn to use social media and other web-based marketing tools
MUES also provides the opportunity for entrepreneurs to network and gain valuable insight from judges, community partners and other business owners with the help of Twitter, Facebook and the MUES blog. The 2009 grand-prize winner Rex Wills commented that the resources and networking MUES provides is invaluable, “Seek a mentor, not only from the business level, but from a personal perspective, because being an entrepreneur and a leader has as much to do with you as it does your business. I encourage participants to connect with current and past winners. No one knows the true experience of being in the judging room other than people who have reached that level.”
MillerCoors partners with several business organizations such as the Atlanta Business League, the Chicago Urban League, the Detroit Urban League, the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Dallas, the Urban League of Greater Dallas and North Central Texas, Recycling Black Dollars of Los Angeles, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Urban League, Statewide Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, and the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
For all information on MUES, including official rules, application and requirements of the Business Plan Competition and helpful resources for developing a business plan, visit http://www.MillerCoorsMUES.com.