Who can apply?

• No employees or family members of AIDG employees are eligible to apply for this competition. No consultants, volunteers or judges associated with this competition, nor their family members, are eligible to participate in this competition.
• The business plan competition is open to individuals or partnerships of no more than two people. This individual or partnership may be part of a larger team, but only their input as team leaders will be considered in the judging process.
• To participate and to be eligible to win, at least one of the applicants per entry must be a Haitian resident with Haitian citizenship. In the case of teams with a non- Haitian resident, the Haitian resident must represent for the team during the entire judging period.
• Established businesses that apply may not have more than 100 employees.
• Applicants must submit a valid email and phone number for contact.
• Applicants must submit valid references and CV’s for each team member.
• Applicants must have no prior criminal convictions or felonies.
• This competition is directed to the whole of Haiti.
• If selected as a finalist, applicant(s) must be able to travel to Cap-Haitien to participate in all of the required trainings and evaluation. Outside of extenuating circumstances, any finalists’ failure to attend required workshops or events may result in disqualification from competition.
• If selected as a finalist, the same one or two team representatives must attend all business workshops from beginning to end and make the final presentation in front of judges. Substitution of team members is not allowed.
• If selected as a winner, applicants must make a full-time commitment (ie. 35 hours or more per week) to the new business’ development for at least 2 years. Note: Students who apply should note that they will not be eligible if their business is put on hold due to time commitment conflicts with their studies.
• If selected as a winner, applicants must also match 10% of the loan amount.
• AIDG reserves right to terminate disbursements based on poor performance in the program.
• AIDG reserves the right to disqualify any team or individual that violates any competition rule or gives false information. Those that fail to meet the eligibility requirements will not be considered or will be disqualified.

Application

• The application will only be available online in Microsoft Word format (.doc). All entries must be in French.
• Applications must be submitted by email. AIDG will NOT accept applications submitted by postal mail or in person.
• The application will include biographical information and questions regarding the applicant’s business plan.
• Applications can only be filled out by one or two team members that will act as representation for the team during the entire competition
• In addition to the application, CVs and references for every team member must be included.

Semi-finals

• Six semifinalist teams will be chosen after review of all applications.
• The semifinalists will take part in [] training and evaluation workshops that will help them expand their original application into a full-fledged business plan suitable for presenting to banks, business loan institutions, or other investors.
• Semifinalist team representatives must be present to ALL workshops in order to qualify.
• The workshop period will also allow for AIDG to observe candidates soft skills which include: personal interaction; pro-activeness; work ethic; determination; interest; demeanor; etc.
• At the end of the workshop period, all semifinalists will have formal business plans suitable for presenting to banks, business finance institutions, or investors.
• In addition to a formal business plan, all finalists will receive a certificate from AIDG that certifies their participation in the business plan development workshops.

Award

• Pending a performance evaluation within 6 months of signing the business incubation program contract, the winner will be eligible for up to US$40,000 in low-interest loan financing to support the business’ growth. Loan financing depends on applicant performance and is governed by the terms set out in the AIDG incubation program contract which will be offered to the winning team. No interest is applied to the loan during the incubation period; thereafter a low interest rate will be applied. After the incubation period, the entrepreneur will be put on payment plan of five to 10 years, depending on the terms of the individual loans. Note: Winners are not obligated to accept these loans if they can grow their business without the additional financial input from AIDG.
• The award amount includes an up to $10,000 in-kind equipment grant. It is not necessary for this grant to be repaid, but should the winning team not fulfill their obligations to AIDG and/or the program all goods purchased with this funding must be returned.
• Prize winners are solely responsible for any taxes, penalties and additional expenses due associated with acceptance and use of prize.

Liability

• This contest is void where prohibited by law.
• Submitting any entry and acceptance of the prize offered constitutes permission to use the winner's name, city of residence, photograph, voice, or other likeness for advertising, publicity or other purposes online and offline without additional consent and compensation.
• AIDG reserves the right to make changes to the rules of the contest and to terminate the contest at any time.
• By submitting an entry, the applicant agrees to and is deemed to have accepted all of the terms, conditions, and regulations of said contest.
• All photographs, text, content or other information which applicants submit to AIDG over the course of the contest become the property of AIDG, and AIDG has no obligation to preserve them, return them or place them at the applicant’s disposal or the disposal of the others.
• As AIDG becomes the owner all photographs, text, content and other information submitted over the course of the contest, AIDG and its directors, employees, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensees and assignees may reproduce, display and transmit, prepare derivative works of, modify, publish and otherwise make use of the submitted works in any and all media, whether now known or hereinafter created, throughout the world and for any purpose with no additional consent or compensation.