Business Plans

Each MAPH team writes and presents a public health business plan designed to attack a key public health problem in their community. The best business plan projects are measurable, sustainable projects that use community partners to tackle high-priority issues.

Projects should address identified community health risks. Business planning responds to critical needs emerging from strategic planning, such as the MAPP process.
The health need should be measurable: in order to design an effective program and to measure impact, data on the targeted issue must be available.
The project should allow teams to demonstrate skills gained in marketing, partnering, data management, human resources and finance (skills like thinking creatively, defining your market, making cost assumptions, generating revenue, finding human resources, engaging community partners, communicating your message).

Academy members are expected to come to the Academy with a project topic in mind and clearance from their organizational sponsor. Staff will work with each team to refine the project so that teams can return to work with a clear direction for their business plan. In October, teams will share and assess each other's feasibility studies. At graduation, each team will present their business plan. The best business plan presentations earn the coveted blue ribbon.

We believe that teams learn more and appreciate the experience more if their business plans represent useful and interesting projects. Over 80% of graduates say they plan to implement their plans. As noted above, many have attracted start-up funding and begun operations. Hertford-Gates (NC) Health Department, for instance, won $780,000 in start-up funding to implement a chronic care network. Our evaluation update reports include more success stories, and the list of business plan topics includes outcomes for some teams.

Past plans have tackled a range of critical population health issues across many disciplines:

access to care
communicable diseases from hepatitis C to STDs and HIV/AIDS
dental care and prevention
air quality
obesity and exercise
food safety and water quality