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1. $40,000 in reimbursable funds toward eligible expenses:
   
   1. • Signage
      • CPTED recommendations 
      • Architectural and engineering design fees
      • City permit fees
      • Obsolescence that requires a change of use and Defectiveness or noncompliance with current building and fire codes
      • Electrical and/or Plumbing service upgrades and Energy efficiency upgrades (exterior windows & doors, HVAC)
      • Facade & storefront restoration
      • Streetscaping & landscaping (lights, trees, sidewalk, curb, gutters, vaults, public art)
      • ADA accessibility expenses
      • Relocation of utilities 
      • Rent assistance
      • Marketing, advertising, & promotion

   *Ineligible expenses include:  FF&E, Paint, Flooring, Inventory & supplies for the business, Operational & soft costs (salaries, wages, insurance, taxes, POS, website, cleaning, maintenance), Cosmetic & aesthetic features, Telephone & internet. 

2. Free First Year Downtown Billings Association membership, ($300 value) 
3. A Pop-up Location in the TIFD for the Fourth Quarter of 2024 (Oct., Nov., and Dec.).  
4. One-on-one with partnering property owners offering lease/build-out allowances. 

Grand Prize package Estimated Value: over $50,000

VIEW DETAILED PROGRAM PARTICIPATION PACKET 

Phase I—Submit Initial Business Concept
If your business concept advances through the initial jurying, you will be invited to move on to the second phase of the contest.

• March 1st – March 13th: Phase I, Call for Business Concepts (All concepts must be submitted by 4pm, March 13, 2024 deadline.)
• March 13th-20th: Phase I, Selections Committee reviews Business Concepts.
• March 21, 2024: Finalists announced and invited to advance to Phase II

Phase II—Attend FREE Business Training Courses
Participants moving into Phase II will be given free registration to nine valuable educational business courses. Phase II finalists must attend a minimum of four of the outlined course offerings, but may attend all the courses if they wish. Participants seeking to expand an existing business are exempt from the Phase II course requirements but encouraged to attend a Scale and Growth session that will be offered for them.

• March 26 – June 21, 2024: Phase II Finalists attend business courses and workshops.
  • Courses. Workshops, Sessions include:
    • Launch your business with Customer-Focused Marketing 
    • Startup Roadmap 
    • Balance Sheet vs. Profit & Loss
    • Cash Flow Projections
    • Effective Email Marketing
    • Business Pitch Best Practices 
    • Scale & Growth Roundtable (for expanding businesses) 
    • Retail Design 101  
    • Copyright, Trademark, & Contracts.
• Participants who complete Phase II will be given FREE access to the newly-launched AI powered Business Plan writing tool and consultation by EntrePlans. Leverage AI-driven ChatGPT prompts and utilize EntrePlans’s financial projections template to create a powerful business plan. Send your completed plan to EntrePlans experts for invaluable feedback and insights.
• As Battle of the Plans finalists prepare their business plans for Phase III, the local Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) team is offering one-on-one sessions to review the business plans and help finalists build financial projections.

Phase III—The Business Plan Competition
Heading into the final phase of the competition. All Battle of the Plans participants who complete Phase II requirements then more on to finalize and submit a detailed business plan by August 1, 2024 and present their plans at an in-person Pitch Event the week of August 5th. The two winning Business Plans (one new business/one expansion business) will be announced by August 27, 2024.

• August 1, 2024: Phase III, Finalists Business Plan submission deadline.
• Week of August 5th: Finalists present their business plans at an in-person pitch event.
• Week of August 12th: Selections Committee schedule one-on-one with Finalists.
• Week of August 19th: Final one-on-one meetings with Selections Committee.
• August 27, 2024: The two Grand Prize Winners Announced.

Program Goals:

1. To assist with the opening of one new destination business in downtown Billings (within the boundaries of the Expanded N. 27th St. Tax Increment District – hereinafter TIFD), and one expansion of an existing business.
2. To attract multiple new retail businesses to the Downtown Billings TIFD and strengthen our already established business base. Retail businesses also include entertainment/activity based businesses and food/eateries.
3. Showcase the broad variety of business opportunities in the Downtown Billings TIFD.
4. Fill available retail space with new businesses that complement the existing mix and highlight the potential for businesses to stand out.

• Spring 2016, The Battle of the Plans program initially launches.
• The 2016 winning business plan for the Business Expansion category was The Pub Station‘s Ballroom expansion.
• The 2016 winning business plan for the New Business category was awarded to Vintage Apothecary.
• November 2016, Vintage Apothecary opened their doors at 2818 Third Ave. North.
• January 2017, The Pub Station’s ballroom expansion officially opened for business.
• Spring 2017, A second iteration of the Battle of the Plans program launches.
• The 2017 winning business plan for the Business Expansion category was Well Pared and their plan to open their second location.
• The 2017 winning business plan for the New Business category was split between two plans; SomethingChic (a clothing boutique that came in 2nd place in 2016 Battle of the Plans New Business category) and a restaurant known as Mason Dixon.
• Spring 2018, Battle of the Plans coordinators decide to hit the pause button on the program to give the 2017 winners more time to open.
• September 2018, Funding issue cancels Mason Dixon’s plans to open  – Their Battle of the Plans winnings were transferred to the 2017 Battle of the Plans co-winner, SomethingChic.
• September 2018, SomethingChic owner, Linda Brooks, starts a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the collateral to secure her Small Business Loan.
• December 2018, Well Pared opens their downtown location at 2710 First Avenue North.
• May 2019, SomethingChic opens at 2818 2nd Ave N.
• October 2019, Vintage Apothecary owner stated her daily Bridger to Billings commute had grown tiresome and relocated her shop to Bridger, MT.
• December 2022, Well Pared closes all locations after seven years as a brick and mortar (four of which included their downtown location).
• January 2024, The Pub Station Ballroom (2016) and SomethingChic (2017) downtown Billings locations are still open for business.
• March 2024, A third iteration of the Battle of the Plans program begins.

The Selection Committee will consist of a representation of Downtown Billings property owners, business leaders, community leaders and representatives from the Promotion partners: The DBA, Big Sky Economic Development, Cushing Terrell, EntrePlans, Start.Grow.Thrive., and Downtown Billings Partnership. 

Eligibility:

1. This promotion is open to all legal U.S. residents, 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.
2. Proposed retail businesses can be independent operations or franchised.
3. If the proposed business concept features an expansion of an existing business, then the proposed expansion must be new to Downtown Billings and can only be the second or third store in the portfolio.
4. Employees and temporary employees of the Downtown Billings Association, Contest sponsors, and the immediate family of each, are not eligible for entry. 
5. All business concept submissions must be emailed, delivered, or postmarked to the Downtown Billings Association (DBA) by 5:00 p.m. on March 12, 2024.
6. Willingness to commit to a 3-year lease in the Billings TIFD. 

Conduct: 

• By entering the Promotion, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsors, which shall be final and binding in all respects. The Official Rules as outlined in this document will be posted at www.downtownbillings.com and accessible throughout the promotion.
• Sponsors reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or business they find tampering with the entry process, or the operation of the website; or to be acting in violation of the Official Promotion.