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MSU student team wins E-Business Plan Competition, financial backing |
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Friday, 02 May 2008 |
For the Daily News
Starting one's own business is something many people dream about.
Now that dream is coming true for some Mississippi State University students.
On April 16, the MSU College of Business & Industry held the final round of the 2008 E-Business Plan Competition.
Four student teams comprised of undergraduate and graduate students competed for financial backing to create an online business.
Each student team presented its business plan to a panel of judges consisting of Jeremy Tabor, of Tabor Construction & Development; Donna Rupp, Cadence Bank; Robert Clark, President, C.C. Clark Inc.; Turner Wingo; Cindy Marsh, BancorpSouth; Michael Allen, founder and owner, Shopping-Bargains.com and Bruce Franklin, president and CEO, Franklin Financial Services of Tennessee Inc.
The judges evaluated the content of each team's written business plan and presentation in making their decision.
The winning team of Renee LaBruyere, Ivan Valdez and Annette Woods was awarded $5,000 for their concept of "ITheWedSouth," a wedding resource guide focusing on small towns. Phillippe Frayssinoux, Jim Perdue, Corey Lucius, Adam Foote won second place ($500) for "Linvity," a social networking site for foreign students.
There was a tie for third place — "SimpleFitness" (Mark Gill, Nicole Ellis, Lauren Vise, Krystal Kennedy), an on-demand fitness training video site and "SeeTheSec" (James Benson, Rachael Dean, Cathrine Hanna), a travel coordination site for SEC fans, each received $250.
"The First Place winners will be launching their business this summer under the guidance of the Thad Cochran Endowment for Entrepreneurship Center and will be mentored in the process by Michael Allen, Founder and Owner, Shopping-Bargains.com," said Rob Moore, an associate professor of marketing and co-organizer of the event.
"In addition," added Gerald Nelson, director of the Thad Cochran Endowment for Entrepreneurship Center, "the competition offers our students tremendous experience in developing business plans and presenting to members of the business community."
The competition was co-organized by The Services Innovation Group of the MSU College of Business & Industry’s Department of Marketing Quantitative Analysis and Business Law and the Thad Cochran Endowment for Entrepreneurship Center.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 May 2008 )
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