April 2024 Border Entrepreneurial Challenge
The Border Entrepreneurial Challenge (BEC) 2024 will take place April 19–21, 2024, at the AWC/NAU–Yuma campus in Yuma, Arizona, with participants from Mexico and the United States. The purpose is for interested students, college and university alumni, and entrepreneurs to have the opportunity to work with binational teams to pitch new entrepreneurial ideas or expand their existing entrepreneurial projects to a binational panel of judges.
The BEC will give you the opportunity to present your business ideas to potential investors by interacting with different participants from the border region, listening to experts from different entrepreneurial fields, having guided working sessions with mentors, and competing with your team or entrepreneurial idea to gain a spot on the final presentation.
Types of registration tracks
Track 1: Students
Graduate and undergraduate students
Purpose/Objectives
- The participants in this track will have the opportunity to create and develop a Business Model Canvas and perform a public presentation pitching their entrepreneurial ideas.
- They will practice and improve specific skills and abilities such as communication and negotiation skills, teamwork, and networking.
- They will have the opportunity to present their business ideas to potential investors.
Participation days
Friday (online)
Saturday & Sunday (in-person)
Deliverables
Business Model Canvas
Pitch
First round
All teams present their Business Model Canvas and pitch to judges for the opportunity to pitch in the final round.
Final round
Top 3 pitches
Track 2: Alumni/Entrepreneurs
Alumni, entrepreneurs, community
Purpose/Objectives
The participants in this track will have the opportunity to develop their Business Plan for their preconceived business idea and present their pitch to potential investors.
Participation days
Saturday & Sunday (in-person)
Deliverables
Business Model Canvas
Business plan
Pitch
First round
All participants present their Business Model Canvas, business plan, and pitch to judges for the opportunity to pitch in the final round.
Final round
Top 2 pitches
Track 3: Active Business Owners
Active business owners
Purpose/Objectives
The participants in this track will have the opportunity to develop their acceleration/expansion plan and present it to potential investors.
Participation days
Saturday & Sunday (in-person)
Deliverables
Business Model Canvas
Business plan
Financial executive report
First round
All participants present their Business Model Canvas, business plan, and pitch to judges for the opportunity to pitch in the final round.
Final round
Top 3 pitches
Schedule
Online Track 1
Times will depend on the number of participants.
Time | Description |
---|---|
6 p.m. | Welcome |
6:05 p.m. | Ice breaker |
6:25 p.m. | Proceedings/model description |
6:45 p.m. | Ideas/project presentation (60 secs per participant approximately) |
8:30 p.m. | Voting |
8:45 p.m. | Teams integration |
8:55 p.m. | Closing |
In-person Tracks 1, 2, and 3
Events at the AC building
Time | Description |
---|---|
8 a.m. | Breakfast – Registration |
9 a.m. | Welcome |
9:05 a.m. | Canvas Business Model Presentation – Speaker |
10 a.m. | Working sessions – Mentors |
1 p.m. | Lunch |
2 p.m. | Dough Nicholls – Mayor of Yuma |
2:05 p.m. | Entrepreneurs Panel |
3 p.m. | Working sessions – Mentors |
5:30 p.m. | Dinner |
6:30 p.m. | Funding Panel |
7:30 p.m. | Closing |
Events at the AC building
Time | Description |
---|---|
8 a.m. | Breakfast |
9 a.m. | Working sessions |
10 a.m. | First round presentations – Judges (5 minutes to present & 5 minutes for Q&A) |
12 p.m. | Working lunch |
2 p.m. | Final round presentations – Judges/Investors (5 minutes to present & 5 minutes for Q&A) (Track 1 – 3 Teams) (Track 2 – 2 Teams) (Track 3 – 2 Teams) |
4 p.m. | Last remarks and diplomas |
4:30 p.m. | Closing |
Facilitators
Monica Acosta-Alvarado
Professor, researcher, and consultant in Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, Organizational Development, and Human Talent Management. Full-time professor, lead faculty for Human Resources, and Chair of the Faculty Council at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Former International Rankings Director at CETYS University System. Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) in Strategic Management, Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Master in Human Resources Management (MHRM).
More than 20 years of professional and academic experience. International Academic Accreditations Evaluator. Author and co-author of academic articles and two books. Reviewer for scholarly journals. Speaker. Business advisor. Wife and a proud mom of two daughters.
Erika Martínez Lugo
Dr. Erika Martínez Lugo holds a BA in Modern Languages (English), a Master’s in Education, and a PhD in Linguistics. She has been teaching for more than 28 years, 23 of which have been for the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC). She is a research professor and a member of the National Research System (level 1) since 2023. Her areas of research are Code-Switching, Language Transfer and the Language Teaching Training process. Dr. Martínez Lugo is passionate about teaching, and what she enjoys the most is guiding students in their teaching training process through analyzing and discussing case studies about the teaching-learning process and reflecting about the teacher’s role. Learning along with students and from her students has been an enriching experience, and Dr. Martínez Lugo thinks teaching has a very important role in the future for students, the city, the state, and the country.
Linda Elliott-Nelson
Dr. Elliott-Nelson earned a PhD in Education from Walden University, an MBA and an MA in Spanish from Arizona State University, and a BA from Northern Arizona University. Her activities have included co-coordinating the Binational Conference on Education with Baja California, Mexico. She was honored with the Heart of Yuma Philanthropist of the Year 2022 in Yuma County, the Arizona Women in Higher Education Woman of the Year in 2021, and the International Athena Leadership Award in 2019.
Dr. Elliott-Nelson has presented internationally on community outreach and engagement, regional collaboration, partnerships, accelerative learning techniques, and community college trends. In 2021, Governor Ducey appointed her to the Arizona Historical Society Board. Her current activities focus on community engagement, education, and development in the Arizona/California/Sonora/Baja, California, mega-region.
Speakers
Jesús Solorzano
Jesús Solorzano has been an entrepreneur in Mexico and the United States for more than 25 years. He also possesses a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a bachelor’s in Mexican law, a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance, a master’s in marketing, and a master’s degree in corporate law (Mexico). “I love helping others achieve financial independence and business goals,” he shares.
Doug Nicholls
Douglas J. Nicholls is the 27th Mayor of the City of Yuma, Arizona, elected to service for the Yuma community as Mayor in 2014 and recently re-elected to a third term beginning January 2023. Mayor Nicholls was raised in Yuma, Arizona. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from Arizona State University (ASU) with an emphasis in Civil Engineering before continuing post-baccalaureate studies in transportation engineering. In addition to his role as Mayor of Yuma, he is president and wwner of Core Engineering Group, an active Rotarian, and a dedicated husband and father of four children.
Panelists
First Panel
- Krizia Godinez/Lola Garcia – I Am Wellness Studio – Yuma
- César Ponce – Fusionic Shelter – BC
- Marissa Galindo – Revival Fix – Yuma
- Juan Carlos Munguía – Aerospace TX and Baja (Online)
- Brigitte Licona – Best Taquito – Yuma
Second Panel
- Viridiana Rosales – SBDC CA
- Alejandra Nuñez – Innovation Projects Coord Secretary of Development and Economy BC
- Luis Ochoa – Secretary of Development and Economy BC
- María Esther Durán – UES/FIDESON
Judges
First Round
- Alan Pruitt
- Randy Nelson
- Carol Smith
Final Round
- Russ Jones (Yuma)
- Justin Ritchie (SLRC)
- Brian Ellerman (Yuma)
- Niraj Kohli (NAU)
Mentors
- Viridiana Rosales (SBDC CA)
- Paige Leister (NAU)
Hotel accommodations
Nearby Hotels:
- Four Points by Sheraton Yuma
- Comfort Inn & Suites
- Best Western Plus
- Homewood Suites by Hilton
- Holiday Inn
- Wingate by Wyndham
- Coronado Motel (Event discount rate)
Partnering institutions
- Northern Arizona University – Yuma
- Arizona Western College
- SDSU – Imperial Valley
- Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior
- Universidad Estatal De Sonora
- SBDC – Imperial Valley
- Universidad Autónoma de Baja California