By KIM J. GIFFORD

To paraphrase the old television show, The A-Team, “everyone loves it when a plan comes together.” However, Deborah and Alan Brown almost missed an opportunity to reap honors for their business plan when Deborah Brown got cold feet about submitting their entry in a regional business contest.

Thanks to the entry – submitted just under the wire on the day of the contest’s deadline – the plan drafted by the Browns to expand their venture, MacLaomainn’s Scottish Pub in Chester, VT, netted them $10,000 as winner of the Southern Windsor County Incubator Business Plan Contest.

“It was a solid winner,” said Tom Leever, chair of the board for the incubator group and a retired business executive.

The MacLaomainn expansion plan won from a field of 11 entries, which then was whittled to six finalists, “all of which were pretty much solid and offered a great deal of diversity,” said Bob Flint, executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corporation.

The Southern Windsor County Incubator business plan contest was launched two years ago to raise awareness of small business and entrepreneurship and to encourage new business development through the creation of proper business plans.

When it came time to enter the contest earlier this spring, Deborah Brown confessed to feeling “overwhelmed.” She had a lot going on that day, she said, and almost nixed submitting her entry. This, in spite of the fact she had worked with Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) a year earlier in developing a business plan to secure a loan.

It was her contact at SEVCA who told Brown about the contest and encouraged her to enter, even calling her on deadline day to give Brown a last bit of incentive to enter the executive summary of her business plan.

From that moment on, everything appeared to come together for the Browns: their plan scored well with the judges, impressing them both on paper and in the presentation portion of the contest.

Brown’s entry included a 10-page business plan featuring a profit-and-loss statement since opening and projections for the next two years.

“We essentially brought our business plan up to date,” she said.

The contest required entrants to submit plans to create a new business or expand an existing one. Start-up and existing businesses with annual sales of up to $500,000 were permitted to participate.

Participants had to submit a three-page executive summary; the field then was whittled down to six finalists who each had to submit a 10-page business plan in little over a month’s time. The following week, they had to formally present their plans to a panel of judges at the Howard Dean Education Center.

Judges examined the plans’ financial soundness; the likelihood for success; the potential for job creation and impact on the local economy; and leadership quality.

MacLaomainn’s scored highest among the entries for its presentation. “They won both parts of the competition,” said Leever. “They had been in business for a little over six months, and had done a pretty good job documenting results.”

One of the benefits of participating was having the opportunity to see what they had already accomplished, said Deborah Brown.

“All of our short-term goals had been achieved in our first eight months,” she said. “One of our long-term goals was putting on a deck in the first three to five years, and we are already doing that.”

The Browns are using part of their winnings to help with the deck, which will almost double the current 38-person seating capacity by adding 37 seats outside. The money has also allowed the Browns to purchase a large two-door refrigerator and to expand the kitchen.

“The contest is a wonderful means for new and small businesses to try to get a little assistance,” said Brown.

The business plan submitted by the Browns was selected by a board of community judges including Fran Cheslock of TD BankNorth; Pete Andrews, an insurance agent retired from Stantec Engineering and now a board member of the Southern Windsor County Incubator, and Leever.

The judges were also impressed by the fact that in its short time in business, the pub had already created “a fair number of jobs” and would have approximately 20 employees by the conclusion of the expansion in addition to almost doubling its size, said Leever.

The Browns’ plan also scored high for its documentation, which included their financial results since opening the pub as well as future projections. Their winning presentation was complimented for being both comprehensive and interesting.

“They went over the whole plan without boring us with details we had already seen, and even had features like a music soundtrack that was appropriate to what we were talking about and pretty impressive,” said Leever.

Leever also praised the other finalists. For instance, he said a proposal submitted by Cloe Milek and Johanna Hunter to create a whole-food retailer named Gold Leaf Market in Windsor, VT has potential. Milek and Hunter were runners-up in the contest and won $1,000.

“It looks like they are doing their homework,” said Leever. “I have seen substantial information such as spreadsheets and responses for potential scenarios that were not part of their plan.

“A number of the plans were worthy,” he added.

Other finalists included:

• Julie Baker and George Belt of Weathersfield, VT, who provided an expansion plan of their farmstand, Posie’s Place, to allow for the sale of local agricultural products.

• Christine Balch of Ludlow, VT provided an entry for the expansion of Summit Soapworks, a retailer and manufacturer of soap and personal-care products.

• Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie of Chester, VT offered a business plan to establish the production of artisanal vinegars at Pardonfield Farm.

• Dan Wiley of Cavendish, VT submitted a plan for the expansion of Global E Industries into energy audit services for commercial and residential properties.

The original impetus behind the contest came from the success of a similar contest conducted by the Brattleboro Development and Credit Corporation. Subsequent research showed a number of successful programs throughout the country, said Leever.

“It’s not an uncommon thing to do,” he said. “The philosophy behind it is that you hear all these economic horror stores about big companies selling out and moving out of the region.

“Economically, the only way we can compete is to keep coming up with new ideas and new businesses. I think this is the first offense against globalization,” he said.

The contest has already experienced growth since its first year, when only four entries were received. Flint attributed that in part to increased efforts to publicize the contest by working with area banks.

He said his hope is the contest will not only stimulate entrepreneurship, but also encourage business owners to think about ways they can grow their firms through sound planning.

“I think even though they didn’t win, all participants will agree that going through the process was beneficial and that doing a business plan is a reward in and of itself,” Flint said.

Baker of Posie’s Place agreed the process was helpful.

“It really made us evaluate a lot of what we were doing,” said Baker, “Certainly, a well-executed business plan is imperative to having a well-executed strategy.”

One suggestion Baker offered for the future is to allow finalists to sit in and listen to one another’s presentations.

“I think you can learn so much from other business owners and what they are doing,” she said.