University of Arkansas Team Wins National Business Plan Competition

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two students in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and a biological engineering student in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas have taken first place and $4,000 in the University of Nebraska 22^nd annual New Ventures World Competition.

Their plan for Elevate Medical would first produce a wheelchair that converts to a stretcher form, alleviating much of the pain and risk that nursing staff members endure in lifting patients.

“It is amazing that this team beat a medical team from Johns Hopkins University as well as teams from University of Iowa and University of Nebraska in the finals,” said Carol Reeves, the Walton College faculty sponsor.

Jacob McConnell and Joe Willmann, both honors undergraduate students in Walton College, and Chris Nelson, an undergraduate student in biological engineering, traveled to Lincoln, Neb., March 26-28, to compete against some of the top business schools in the nation. They proposed that their product, LiftAssist, would alleviate patient-handling injuries that cost the health care industry more than $20 billion a year.

In the first round, they beat teams from Wake Forest University, University of Michigan and University of Portland. Other schools participating were from University of British Columbia and Queen’s University, two top Canadian schools; Syracuse University; Haverford University; and Bowling Green University.

The goal of the New Venture competition is to improve the chances of entrepreneurial success by exposing students to quality feedback, investment opportunities and a chance to see some of the most competitive and innovative entrepreneurial enterprises in the world. A total of $20,000 in prizes was awarded. The Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship sponsored the competition.

Reeves, who holds of the Cecil and Gwendolyn Cupp Applied Professorship in Entrepreneurship, noted that, while the Walton College has had a strong track record at the Arkansas Governor’s Cup competition, this year it has done extremely well in national business plan competitions. She said, “We are very grateful to the business people and faculty who have volunteered to mentor these students and help them develop their presentation and entrepreneurial skills.”

Other recent awards have included:

• In March, Walton College students won first place and a $10,000 award at the University of Cincinnati Spirit of Enterprise M.B.A. Business Plan Competition. Their plan was developed in coordination with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and proposed a product called Tears for Life, a noninvasive test kit that can reliably screen for breast cancer using proteins found in tears. Team members include three students pursuing managerial M.B.A. degrees, Jared Greer, Bessie Williams and Chris Elizer, and an honors undergraduate student, Jordan Greer.

• Also in March, two Walton College managerial M.B.A. students, Adam Perkins and Ben Allen, and a microelectronics-photonics doctoral student, Douglas Wooten, finished in a tie for third place at the University of San Francisco International Business Plan Competition. Their business was Silicon Solar Solutions. First place went to a team from Boston University and MIT and second place to the Illinois Institute of Technology. The third place tie was with Queens University.

• In February, a Walton College team of three managerial M.B.A. students and a graduate student from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences placed first in the Mid-South Region Walmart Better Living Business Plan Competition that was held on the University of Arkansas campus. The business, Ground Up Biosolutions, included M.B.A. students Brandon Barr, Joshua McCullough, Keith Solsvig and agribusiness student Cesar Coto. The regional winners will compete nationally in April with the University of San Francisco, University of Phoenix, Northwestern University, University of Louisville, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia and New York University.