Business students compete, taste the real world
■ Nine student groups present their ideas for new
companies during a business school competition
Angela Leidig
for the Emerald
University students from the
Charles H. Lundquist College of
Business competed March 10 in
the EMU Ballroom for cash prizes
during the Quest for AdVenture
business plan competition.
Nine groups of graduating mas
ter of business administration stu
dents gave 15-minute presenta
tions of pre-designed business
plans before 12 business represen
tatives who judged the competi
tion, followed by 20-minute ques
tion and answer sessions.
“Students learn the real world
application of entrepreneurship
by getting in front of people to
present their ideas and communi
cate them in front of investors,”
said Barry Weisband, director of
the Lundquist Center for Entrepre
neurship.
First place winner was Sun
burst IPM, which created a tech
nological device that kills un
wanted roadside vegetation. The
four students in the group re
ceived $1,000 in cash prizes and
will represent the University in
the Lundquist Center’s national
business venture challenge, the
New Venture Competition, on
April 27-29 in Portland.
“There is a lot of excitement
about on-line companies,” Sun
burst IPM team member Craig
Mortensen said. “We thought that
perhaps we would not be as attrac
tive because we are not an on-line
company.”
The five students from Spon
sorship Strategies Inc., a sports
marketing consulting firm that as
sists hi-tech corporations with
sports sponsorship investments,
won second place, receiving $500.
They will compete in the Moot
Corp. business plan competition
at the University of Texas in
Austin. “One benefit of the com
petition was being able to use all
of the tools the MBA classes have
taught us,” said Sponsorship
Strategies, Inc. team member
Sadie Dressekie.
Four students from Wet Dawg,
an on-line magazine and informa
tion center for water sports, won
third place and received $250.
About 120 students and other
community members attended
the event, which included the
competition, a luncheon and a re
ception announcing the winners.
“We wanted to make the com
petition more of a community
event,” Lundquist office manager
Lola Bozovich said.
Judges based their scores ac
cording to market attraction, pres
entation, strength of managemen t
and economic value, among other
categories.
The Quest for AdVenture busi
ness plan competition, spon
sored by Acacia Teleservices In
ternational and the Lundquist
Center for Entrepreneurship, has
been held at the University for
nine years.
“It shows a solid partnership
that the Lundquist College has es
tablished with the community,”
Weisband said.
The competitors had complet
ed nearly a year of business cours
es in marketing and entrepreneur
ship, ultimately leading to a
business developing course in
C { Students come out of
this having rolled up
their sleeves and getting
their hands dirty.
Alan Meyer
business professor
preparation for a final business
plan used at the competition,
Weisband said.
“Students come out of this hav
ing rolled up their sleeves and get
ting their hands dirty,” said Alan
Meyer, Lundquist professor of en
trepreneur management said.
“Writing a plan for a start-up is
like building a scale model of a
company. Students can tweak it,
change its assumptions and see
how it grows.”
Students are also encouraged to
apply for the Lundquist Center for
Entrepreneurship Student Busi
ness Incubator, a program for stu
dents who want to execute their
business plan.
“The incubator has the poten
tial of connecting students with
investors,” Weisband said. “It’s a
continuum of program services of
fered to students.”
The incubator program, offered
to all students, requires students
to have a business plan that they
are interested in producing with a
written idea of what needs to be
accomplished, Bozovich said.
“The competition is a part of the
continuum of traditional class
room learning to outside-class
room learning, the incubator pro
gram and internships that provide
complements to in-class learn
ing,” Weisband said.
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