Two WSU Tri-Cities Students Win More Than $21,000 in Business Plan Competitions

TRI-CITIES, Wash. — The Washington State University Tri-Cities business plan competition team of Kent Bader and Paul Dailey ended a whirlwind series of events with last week’s second-place finish at the University of Washington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Bader and Dailey pitched their plan for developing “Brightwave,” a consistent building inspection service which uses diagnostic imaging to detect moisture, plumbing and electrical lines located behind plasterboard, wood, and concrete walls.

They received the Judge’s Choice Prize for “Best New Service or Retail Idea” – a $5,000 award – and took second place overall ($10,000), behind a team from the host school. The Seattle competition brings their total to $21,250.

The Seattle business plan competition was the duo’s fifth this year, with previous presentations earning them kudos and cash awards at Boise State University, Gonzaga, the University of Oregon and at Washington State’s Pullman campus.

“Just getting in to these competitions is a huge accomplishment,” said Nancy Ashley, director of the WSU Tri-Cities Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship. Although many college teams want to compete at this level, only a small number are selected for any one competition.

Bader and Dailey both have undergraduate engineering degrees as well as careers. Bader works for Fluor and Dailey is a project engineer for Infinia Corporation.

Business plan competitions have been around for some 20 years, but WSU Tri-Cities just entered into the activity last fall. Such intercollegiate competitions were outlined as an activity when the campus’ Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship was established in the summer of 2005.

The Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship focuses on the exploration and development of technology-based business opportunities in the mid-Columbia region. Startup funding for the institute came from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the WSU College of Business and WSU Tri-Cities.          

Prior to helping establish the institute at WSU Tri-Cities, PNNL has been supporting student business plan competitions at both the University of Oregon and the University of Washington. 

Dailey said the intercollegiate competitions are not only rigorous, but also are very realistic. “Judges are mostly venture capitalists. They’re investment bankers and they don’t look at these presentations from a customer’s viewpoint but from an investor’s point of view.”

The student teams have from one to five members.

This year’s successes have led to increased interest on campus, with more students already signing up for the business plan competitions.