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NAACP ACT-SO Entrepreneurship Workshop

  • Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky African American Chamber-Commerce (map)

The NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) is a yearlong achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students.
ACT-SO includes 32 competitions in STEM, humanities, business, and performing, visual and culinary arts. Almost 300,000 young people have participated in the program since its inception.

For over forty years the mission of ACT-SO has been to prepare, recognize and reward youth of African descent who exemplify scholastic and artistic excellence.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP Refers to owning, organizing, and managing your own business by providing a necessary product or service. REQUIREMENTS: 1. Submit six (6) copies of the contestants’ business plan. 2. Six (6) copies of a typed 8-½-inch by the 11-inch double spaced business plan must accompany the project.

The business plan, which should be a minimum of ten (10) pages and not to exceed twenty (20) pages, should include a cover page, executive summary, company description, a marketing plan, a management plan and a financial plan, in addition to any supporting documents (i.e. graphs, photographs, statistical data).

The student’s name, page number, and branch must be at the top of each page. The six (6) copies must be submitted on or before the specified deadline. 3. The contestant is required to make an oral presentation, not to exceed five (5) minutes, explaining his/her business plan. 4. A visual presentation in the form of a display, slideshow, overhead or PowerPoint presentation should be provided. 5. Contestants should be familiar with business terminology in general and about terminology related to their selected product/service. 6. Contestants are required to have personally conducted the business plan analysis and have been involved with the production of any prototype product or service trials. 7.


The NAACP ACT-SO Program will provide electrical power and an LCD projector. 8. Contestants must provide a laptop and appropriate adapter for projection.

NOTE: The deadline for submission of national registration documents is May 9, 2019. No materials or copies will be accepted after that time or at the National Competition.

Contestants will be judged by the following criteria: • Written Business Plan • Marketing Strategy • Management Plan/Personnel Profile • Financial Plan • Market Research & Analysis • Government Requirements • Product/Service Knowledge • Customer Service Plan • Creativity/Originality • Oral Presentation • Comfort Level of Product/Service Knowledge • Social Responsibility/Contribution to the Community • Presentation Style • Visual Presentation

Earlier Event: February 23
Parfait Beer Weekly Tapping
Later Event: February 23
Christine Kim on the Balcony