A biomedical diagnostic protocol for women recently won the graduate student category of the annual WSU Business Plan Competition.
“The business plan competition continues to be an outstanding, real-world learning opportunity for all of the participants,” said Len Jessup, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, which organizes the event.
Forty-eight teams of 130 competitors presented their plans to a panel of judges from the business community, with the winning teams sharing cash and prizes totaling $100,000.
Two teams from the College of Business’ campus in Brig, Switzerland participated, as did a team from the campus in Chengdu, China. For the second time, the competition included a high school league. And for the third year, an open league was included.
“Not only did the competition essentially double in size with the addition of the international preliminary rounds, but we were also very pleased to see 30 different individuals and organizations donate,” Jessup said. “This is amazing considering the economic environment.”
Undergraduate league, Ecowell, eco-friendly refreshment kiosk, awarded $14,000 and mobile devices.
Open league, Heath Barnes, a hummus manufacturing plant to be located in Whitman County, awarded $10,000.
High school league, Dolce, bakery and specialty cakes, awarded $2,000.
Judges based their evaluations on quality of the team, the concept, the written plan, the presentation and whether they would invest in the idea. Each WSU team gave a 15-minute presentation followed by an intense 15-minute question-and-answer session by the judges. The high school and open-league teams gave 15-minute presentations followed by 20-minute question and feedback sessions.
For more on the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, see http://www.business.wsu.edu/Entrepreneurship.
For more on the College of Business, see http://www.business.wsu.edu.
