By Jeff Hamlin
WCHL Reporter

The entrepreneurial spirit will be alive and well this week on the UNC campus with the semifinals of the 2010 Carolina Challenge.

The event’s CEO, Brent Blonkvist, says the competition has given students a chance to transform their ideas into new ventures, as well as promote the university.

The Carolina Challenge allows students with commercial and social ventures to pitch their business plans to a committee. Grand prize winners receive $15,000, while the second place winner gets $7,500.

Blonkvist says this year, they’ve had more participation than ever before. It started with 121 teams in January. That field narrowed to 32 semifinalists, who will compete on Wednesday and Thursday.

Because of UNC’s proximity to local regional hospitals, Blonkvist says more students have centered their presentations on the medical field, such as last year’s grand prize winner, NexPay.

The finals of the 2010 Carolina Challenge will be held on March 27 at the Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Koury Auditorium.