Entrepreneurs Present Poverty-Ending Plans

The 24th annual Westmont Business Plan Competition attempts to solve some of the deepest problems encountered by disadvantaged families in poverty-stricken areas on Tuesday, Dec. 10, from 3:15-6:30 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge at Kerrwood Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

“Instead of coming up with some outlandish business plans in hopes of being funded, this year we’ll focus on finding solutions to help the poorest of the poor around the world,” says Rick Ifland, director of the Eaton Program for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Westmont.

There will be seven presentations describing various projects, including purifying drinking water in rural Haitian villages, mitigating blindness in children around the world due to vitamin A deficiency, and providing the tooling and machinery for indigenous people to cheaply create bricks to improve their living conditions.

Ifland, associate professor of economics and business, will speak about the challenges and efficacy of microfinance in a free, public lecture Thursday, Feb. 13, at 5:30 p.m. at University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St. No tickets are required; the limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051. The talk, “The Future of Microfinance and the Role of Muhammad Yunus,” is part of Westmont Downtown: Conversations about Things that Matter, which is sponsored by the Westmont Foundation.