The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition today launched its 2009 season, which is expected to award $150,000 in prizes, and announced the addition of Johnson and Wales University as a co-organizer.

Johnson and Wales joins Business Development Company of Rhode Island (BDCRI), which has been a principal organizer of the competition since it started in 2000.

Twenty-four Rhode Island organizations, including public and private companies, universities and colleges, and public agencies, are supporting the 2009 competition.