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@uiuc.edu.

Federal Links
State/Regional Links
Local Links
University of Illinois Links
Private Foundations and Organizations
Media Links
Business Plan Competitions

 

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:

Entrepreneurship Portal (www.uiuc.edu/entrepreneur)

EnterpriseWorks (www.researchpark.uiuc.edu/property/enterpriseworks)

Research Park at the University of Illinois (www.researchpark.uiuc.edu)

Illinois Ventures (www.illinoisventures.com/index.html)

Illinois Business Consulting (www.ibc.uiuc.edu)

Office of Technology Management (www.otm.uiuc.edu)

Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership (www.ael.uiuc.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

Fortune Small Business (www.money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb)

Red Herring, Inc. (www.redherring.com)

MidwestBusiness.com 

Business Plan Competitions:

Cozad Business Plan Competition (www.cozadcompetition.uiuc.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.mit199k.org)

Midwest Venture Summit (www.ventureconference.com)