Millions of ways to make a million in a new business will be explored at the kickoff of the second Fisher College/Anderson Business Plan Competition today.

“During last year’s competition there were so many ideas, and all of them were individual and unique,” said Rich Langdale, executive director for Ohio State’s new Center for Entrepreneurship.

The competition is meant to bring together various teams with ideas for a good business plan, said Sharon Alvarez, the faculty adviser for the competition. She is also an assistant professor of management and human resources.

“Our goal is to get to a business with potential in its early stage and give it seed capital to get it going,” Alvarez said.

The winner of the competition will receive $100,000 in cash and services to help get their business underway, said Eric Nettle, graduate assistant and coordinator of the competition. The main qualification for interested teams is that they have at least one OSU student or alumni of any major as a member.

The competition lasts throughout the school year, with the field being narrowed down to eight teams who give their final presentations in the first week of June, Nettle said. The winner will be chosen from those presentations.

After the kickoff, there will be a mixer.

“This will help to bring together people who are not already on a team and teams that are looking for another member with skills they may be lacking,” Nettle said.

“We will also be announcing the details concerning the new Center for Entrepreneurship,” Langdale said.

He added the center will be a place where talented students, research done by the college’s faculty, and the business community can come together. In the past, he feels that entrepreneurship has been an export for Columbus.

“All of the great ideas that people in Columbus come up with seem to end up on the East Coast,” Langdale said. “Columbus would be a better place if we could keep business here.”

Someone with an idea for a business can go to the new center and learn how to turn that idea into an actual business.

Langdale said last year’s winning team, Armada Group, Inc., used the money and services given to them to secure new capital and to get comfortable in a very tough business climate the Armada Group’s idea was to use the technology available today to identify criminals and bring them to justice.

“They are doing very well and will be speaking at the kickoff along with Sharon Alvarez and Rich Langdale,” Nettle said.

The kickoff for the competition and the Center for Entrepreneurship begins at 6 p.m. in the Berry Auditorium of Schoenbaum Hall, 210 W. Woodruff Ave.