The Governors Cup business plan competition
drew 44 teams from eight college campuses,
including the state's community colleges.
And this year more entries centered on
green and energy efficient business plans,
says Dave Archer,managing director of the
Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology,
which oversaw the competition.
"Younger people are more attuned to this
and it's reflected in their business plans," he
says.
Previous teams were largely fielded by
business and engineering majors but this
year saw four teams from from journalism
schools. One proposed a Web site for Hispanic
families and another a health food guide.
Judges scored the winners on best business
plan: a well-thought-out, cohesive idea
for a business. The plans combined planning
for marketing, human resources and finance.
Prizes of $20,000, $10,000, and $5,000
went to the first, second and third place winners.
Prizes for the Lt. Governor's Award for
best green business plan totaled $10,000.
Undergraduate winners were:
Weingart & Keranen Environmental
Solutions, first place. Team members from
Sierra Nevada College are James Weingart and
James Keranen, with faculty advisor Madylon
Meiling. The plan proposed storm water pollutant
removal and alert system for networked
citywide storm drains.
EVO Fuels, second place. Mark Lemos of
UNR with faculty advisor John Cushman proposed
a biofuel and carbon emission solutions
company based on microalgae. EVO
Fuels also won the undergraduate Lt.
Governor's Award.
ME3-carGLOW, third place. Team members
from UNR are Robert Terhune, Mindi
Casey, Doug Eckery,Heather Malson,
Shunsuke Otani, and Daniel Traut, with faculty
advisor Bill Avery. The plan proposed effective
but simple lighting for car-top cargo carriers.
Graduate winners were:
NanoVation Inc., first place. Team members
from UNR are Rashi Tiwari,Yvonne
Dang, Sang Mun Kim, Alex Vanderhoff, and
Kaustav Sinha, with faculty advisor Kwang
Kim. The plan proposed an energy harvester
to convert ambient energy into a usable electrical
signal. NanoVation Inc. also won the
graduate Lt. Governor's Award.
Samsara Interactive, Inc., second place.
Team members from UNR are David Carr,
Juan Quiroz, Ben Menesini,Austin Stanhope
And Mark Harmer, with faculty advisor
Sushil Louis. The plan proposed an online
real-time strategy game that will generate and
display in-game advertising.
Simply Healthy Food, third place. Team
members from UNR are Abbey Smith and
Melissa Voigtmann, with faculty advisor
Edward Lenert. The plan proposed an online
marketplace for sustainably produced, local
food.
