This page contains links to websites with useful information and resources for entrepreneurs. Many of these organizations provide opportunities for grant money or participation in business plan competitions. It would be impossible to create a comprehensive list of all resources available to the prospective entrepreneur or technologist, but we will be adding more links as we become aware of them. If you know of a site that you think should be listed here, please let us know by calling or e-mailing us at tec@illinois.edu.
Federal Links:
- Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (www.darpa.mil)
- United States Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov)
- United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov)
- US Government Business Overview (www.business.gov)
- Central government grants source (www.grants.gov)
State/Regional Links:
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (www.commerce.state.il.us/dceo)
- State of Illinois Business Portal (www.business.illinois.gov)
Local Links:
- Champaign County Economic Development Corporation (www.champaigncountyedc.org)
University of Illinois Links:
- EnterpriseWorks (http://www.researchpark.illinois.edu/facilities/enterpriseworks/)
- Research Park at the University of Illinois (www.researchpark.illinois.edu)
- IllinoisVENTURES (http://www.illinoisventures.com/)
- Office for Technical Consulting Resources (www.otcr.illinois.edu/)
- Illinois Business Consulting (www.ibc.illinois.edu)
- Office of Technology Management (www.otm.illinois.edu)
- Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership (www.ael.illinois.edu)
Private Foundations and Organizations:
- Coleman Foundation (www.colemanfoundation.org)
- Kauffman Foundation (www.kauffman.org)
- National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (www.nciia.org)
- Illinois Venture Capital Association (www.illinoisvc.org)
- National Venture Capital Association (www.nvca.org)
- State Science and Technology Institute (www.ssti.org)
- Technology Research Education and Commercialization Center (www.trecc.org)
- United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (www.usasbe.org)
- Entrepreneurs’ Organization (www.eonetwork.org)
- Chicago Chapter (www.eochicago.org)
- National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
- Energizing Entrepreneurs (www.energizingentrepreneurs.org)
- National Business Association (www.nationalbusiness.org)
Media Links:
- Inc.com
- Entrepreneur.com (Social Media Marketing)
- Fortune Small Business (www.money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb)
- Red Herring, Inc. (www.redherring.com)
- MidwestBusiness.com
Business Plan Competitions:
- V. Dale Cozad New Venture Competition (www.cozadcompetition.illinois.edu)
- Business Plan Competition Directory: a list of business plan competitions held around the globe(www.smallbusinessnotes.com/planning/competitions.html)
- MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition (www.mit100k.org)
- Midwest Venture Summit (http://www.midwestventuresummit.com/)
- Rice Business Plan Competition (http://rbpc.rice.edu/rbpc.aspx)
- Clean Energy Challenge (http://www.cleanenergytrust.org/events/about-the-challenge/)
- Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/globalsocialentrepreneurshipcompetition/)
- Collegiate Business Challenge from NYSE and mtvU (http://www.moversandchangers.com/)
- Collegiate Inventors Competition (http://www.invent.org/collegiate)
