1. I have an idea for a health food enterprise but I am not a business school student. May I still enter the Food for Health Business School Competition?
2. Can teams have any members from schools outside of the five states listed in the guidelines?
3.Where can I find the Competition Rules?
4. How many rounds does the competition have?
5. Who will the judges be?
6. How many proposals do you expect to receive?
7. Are their prizes for second place or “runner-up” proposals?
8. Will non-winning teams receive anything for their participation?
9. How can we learn more about food systems, food access, and disparities in access to healthy foods and in health outcomes?
10. Is attendance at the October 5 Webinar required for all those who plan to enter the competition?
11. What are the judging criteria for our plan proposals and business plan?
12. What happens after the competition ends if we are the winning team?
13. Can non-winning teams participate in next year’s Food for Health competition?
14. Where can I go to sign up for updates and information regarding this year’s and future years’ competitions?

1. I have an idea for a health food enterprise but I am not a business school student. May I still enter the Food for Health Business School Competition?
Yes, but only if you have at least one fellow team member who is a currently registered student, part-time or full-time, in an MBA Program at a college or university located in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
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2. Can teams have any members from schools outside of the seven states listed in the guidelines?
As long as at least one member of the team must a currently registered MBA student from a college or university in the seven states listed above, there is no exclusionary criterion pertaining to additional team members.  
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3.Where can I find the Competition Rules?
For the official rules and/or regular updates, click here. 
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4. How many rounds does the competition have?
The competition has three rounds, each with their own deadline:
• November 7, 2011 – Food enterprise summary due
• November 21, 2011 Qualifying teams notified and all scores/feedback returned
• February 21, 2012 – Business plan due
• March 19, 2012 – Finalists announced and begin preparing final presentations.
• April 12, 2012 – Proposal presentations in New York City and winner announced

A panel of judges will review each Food Enterprise Summary received by the deadline for required elements. Submissions not adhering to the general guidelines outlined will not receive further review. Teams selected to move onto the next phase will be asked to submit a Business Plan. A review committee of leaders in business, public health, community development, and sustainable food enterprises will review and evaluate all business plans. The top 5 teams moving beyond the Business Plan review will be invited to New York City to present their Business Plan before a panel of judges. Total presentation time may not exceed 15 minutes. Presentations will take place in New York City in April 2012.  
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5. Who will the judges be?
The judges for each round will be a diverse group of individuals representing the fields of business, food systems, local and national government, health sector and community-based organizations. There will be a different panel of judges for the each round of the competition.  
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6. How many proposals do you expect to receive?
This is our first annual Food for Health Competition so we can only anticipate how many proposals we will receive. Other competitions have received as few as 10 applicants up to as many as 100 applicants.  
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7. Are their prizes for second place or “runner-up” proposals?
Unfortunately we will only grant prizes to the winning team selected at the end of the competition.  
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8. Will non-winning teams receive anything for their participation?
Non-winning teams will not receive formal prizes or gifts for their participation in the competition.  However, it is our hope that all teams take great advantage of judge feedback as well as the educational resources and accomplished professionals they may encounter through the course of participating in the competition.  
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9. How can we learn more about food systems, food access, and disparities in access to healthy foods and in health outcomes?
If you were unable to attend on October 5, we recommend that you view our informational webinar. This Webinar elaborates on the competition guidelines by giving strategies, success stories and pitfalls from experts in community-based participatory approaches, food access issues and food enterprise business development. For a list of resources to better help you prepare your business plan, click here or refer to Page 4 of the official Competition. The list is not comprehensive so we encourage all applicants to seek additional resources as they prepare their business plan proposals.  
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10. Is attendance at the October 5 Webinar required for all those who plan to enter the competition?
No, attendance is not required for entry into the competition, and does not play a role in assessing the viability and quality of a team's business plan. The informational webinar, however, can still be a valuable resource to teams in preparing their business plan proposals. If you were unable to participate in the webinar on October 5, you can view its content by clicking here.
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11. What are the judging criteria for our plan proposals and business plan?
The Food Enterprise Summary will be scored on 3 key parameters:
1. Viability – the food business is likely to succeed based on concept, market, model, and management.
2. Innovation – the food business concept, model, and partner engagement show innovation in healthy food business planning and implementation.
3. Impact – the food business is likely to have positive short- and long-term impacts on the availability of healthy food options and consumption of healthy foods in the target community.

The Business Plan will be judged based on the criteria outlined in the official competition guidelines.  For more information on judging criteria and the scoring percentage breakdowns for the Food Enterprise Summary and the Business Plan, please refer to pages 6-9 of the Official Competition Guidelines. 
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12. What happens after the competition ends if we are the winning team?
In addition to startup funds, the winning team will be connected to and mentored by a team of consultants who are donating a specific number of hours of their services to help you further develop your business plan. These services include startup services, financial and accounting services, legal, governmental affairs, marketing, advice in attracting socially minded investors and venture capital, and real estate advice.

You will also sign a contract that asks you to create “deliverables,” which report and demonstrate the progress you have made and request release of funds as needed to perform additional tasks.
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13. Can non-winning teams participate in next year’s Food for Health competition?
Yes, teams who do not win this year’s competition are welcomed to compete next year.  However, teams will not be able to submit the same business plan as the previous year.  Repeating teams must submit a new business idea or a modified proposal based on judges’ comments received in the previous Food for Health competition.
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14. Where can I go to sign up for updates and information regarding this year’s and future years’ competitions?
To get regular updates and/or download the official rules, click here. You can also email us at impactdiabetes@gmail.com.
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To return to the main Competition page, click here.