Five University of Wyoming student-led teams will present their business plans to a panel of judges March 27, in the College of Business' annual $10K Entrepreneurship Competition.
The $10K Entrepreneurship Competition is designed to encourage UW students to act on their talents, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow's leading businesses. The competition awards $10,000 to a team of student entrepreneurs that submits a business plan for a new venture showing significant business potential. Both graduate and undergraduate students from all UW colleges can enter the competition.
Listed are the proposed business ideas along with the student(s) who will make presentations before a panel of judges:
Dinner Maid Simple is a service that provides complete meal planning and preparation needs catered to families. It is a semimonthly service that provides a two-week planned dinner menu, complete with easy-to-follow recipes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. This service also includes grocery shopping. Cortney Thoren, a business management senior from Lander, created the business plan.
Olympus Mons Gear is an apparel company dedicated to providing extreme sports enthusiasts with clothing created to withstand and endure the intense conditions encountered while participating in various specialty sports. The company's products will maintain a balance of functionality and fashion while catering to the specific needs of various extreme sports. Products will include base layers, outer layers, accessories and casual attire. A team of four heads this project: Chris Askin, Casper, a UW architectural engineering graduate who is now an MBA student in the College of Business; Tyler Gentry, an outdoor-related business store manager in Greeley, Colo., who received his business administration degree (1996) from UW; Katelyn Johnson, textiles and merchandising, Sidney, Neb.; and Amanda Pohja, a current MBA student from Colorado Springs, Colo.
Rocky Mountain Careers (RMC) is a Web-based business designed to bring employers and those seeking employment together. RMC evolved from the realization that popular job-based Web sites frequently yield search results that are too broad to be of real assistance. In addition, adding a compatibility element and providing video interviews would yield more useful results. After exploring and developing these ideas, the team consulted with UW faculty regarding developing and marketing their business concept. Presenting the business plan will be Chris Cyr, a business administration major/entrepreneurship minor student from Littleton, Colo., and Alexander Landt, marketing and management, Ocala, Fla.
Sensor Technologies. Various equipment such as snow plows and earth-moving equipment have replaceable parts. Failure to replace such parts in time can lead to extensive damage to the main machinery. Sensor Technologies offers a solution to this problem by providing its customers with a blade wear measurement system. Leading the project are Russian-born business administration student Yekaterina Minaicheva from Fort Collins, Colo., and Shipra Mehta from India, who received her MBA degree from UW and is now working toward an M.S. degree in finance.
United Plastics is a Web-based marketplace that facilitates the redistribution of plastics. This marketplace will establish values for unused and reusable plastic composites. Comprising the group are Keegan Delaney, Jackson, who received his B.S. degree (2007) from UW in business administration/marketing; and Rene Alber, Casper, P.J. Shumway from Laramie and Michael Shirley, Evanston, all current MBA candidates.
Carl and Marcia Lee, the Woodson Family Foundation, First Interstate BancSystem Foundation, Venture West and the Wyoming Technology Business Center sponsor the $10K competition.
For more information on the competition, visit www.uwyo.edu/$10K or contact Rachel Stevens at 766-3124 or rstevens@uwyo.edu.
Posted on Friday, March 06, 2009
