Cultivating Student Entrepreneurs

Paul J. Holloway Prize Competition

Bud Albin Challenge Semi-Finals

Championship Round

The Paul J. Holloway Prize competition is UNH's premier business plan competition for undergraduate and graduate students. It challenges students to develop products or services and present their plans to bring them to market. Students from UNH, Plymouth State University, Keene State College, and UNH CPS Online are invited to compete for cash prizes totaling $40,000. It is named in honor of Paul J. Holloway, an accomplished business leader and successful entrepreneur.

About the Benefactor

The Holloway Competition is the oldest of its kind in New Hampshire and is named in honor of Paul J. Holloway, an accomplished business leader and successful entrepreneur, who passed away recently in 2023. Holloway’s wife, Anna Grace, son, Scott, and daughter, Debra, established the Paul J. Holloway Prize in 1988 to honor his achievements and contributions to the educational and business communities. The Holloway family remains involved in the competition today, and their support has allowed for thousands of students to pitch their business ideas over the past 34 years. 

PAUL J. HOLLOWAY, a graduate of Temple University, began his career in the automotive industry as a district manager of Buick Motor Division. In 1967, he invested all of his assets in a Buick-Pontiac dealership in Exeter, N.H., that had sold only 90 new and used cars the previous year, and renamed it Dreher-Holloway.

As he built the business into one of the largest dealerships in New Hampshire, Holloway always stressed customer service and client satisfaction. He has won numerous industry awards, including Time magazine “Quality Dealer of the Year.”

Holloway generously shared his knowledge and experience. As president of the 19,500 member National Automobile Dealers Association from 1998 to 1999, he worked to rebuild the trust between dealers and car manufacturers and took the lead on legislative matters for the organization, maintaining ties with key legislators in Washington.

In addition to his automotive enterprises, Holloway was a partner in the Clipper Nursing and Retirement Homes until he sold the business in 1997, and is presently an owner of the Wentworth Marina in New Castle, N.H.

Holloway had a strong commitment to public service. He served as chair of the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Board of Trustees and spearheaded fundraising programs at Temple University, Governor Dummer Academy, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and was recognized for his work on behalf of education in the state. He received the Robert Frost Contemporary American Award, the University of New Hampshire Alumni Association Profile of Service Award, the USNH Chancellor’s Award, and an honorary doctorate from the University of New Hampshire. Recent honors included the naming of Holloway Commons dining hall in recognition of significant contributions to the university’s programs. He also was selected as one of New Hampshire’s 10 most powerful people by Business NH Magazine and was awarded the David C. Knapp Award for Trusteeship by the New England Board of Higher Education.

Holloway served as chair of the Community College System of New Hampshire and as a New Hampshire Lottery commissioner. He was a past member of the business school dean’s advisory board at the University of New Hampshire.

For more on Holloway's legacy, read this NH Business Review article.