UA News

Entrepreneurship students counted on the love of art, the health benefits of an ancient Aztec seed and the ubiquitous need to "recharge" to garner judges' nods at recent national competition.

Eller College of Management seniors Alex Farkas, Stephen Tanenbaum, Greg Rosborough and Jonathan Pucciarelli earned top honors once again with Original Theory, a business plan for an online service to promote, publish and sell student art, this time at the prestigious Enterprise Creation Competition which took place at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. The finals of the competition were March 24–25 and included nine teams from across the United States.

Original Theory was pitted against undergraduate teams across the country to reach the final nine invited to Ball State University. The team was awarded $7,500 for its 1st place finish and will add the money to previous winnings to launch the venture upon graduation.

During the same week, another Eller College undergraduate team earned 2nd place for its business plan at the Northwest Venture Championship at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. The international competition began with 24 teams, six making it to the final competition in Boise.

Seniors Douglas Allen, Wei-Liang Kao, Amanda Stubbs and Matt Van Horn developed their business plan based on the American Heart Association's assertion that adding Omega-3 fatty acid to the diet can help lower the risk of heart disease. Currently there are only two commercial sources of Omega-3 — fish oil and flaxseeds—and there are inherent problems with each. The team is counting on the promise of an ancient Aztec seed called salvia hispanica L as a viable alternative. Team members have trademarked the seed as Strengo.

"Developing the business plan was a rewarding experience because it is real," said Stubbs. "Strengo is not just another case study but an actual business. Working hard on something that can be a future career provides great motivation and extra incentive for success. The program allows us to move away from theory and towards practical application."

The Strengo team reached the final competition emerging from a semi-final field of 24 undergraduate teams from the U.S. and Canada. The 2nd place award package included a team cash award of $1,000, the Consulate General of Canada award, and the Hewlett-Packard award.

In the very competitive Rice Business Plan Competition, March 30–April 1, the Eller College graduate team InterKinetic Technologies won a $2,000 award for the Best IT/Wireless Business Plan. Thirty-five teams from graduate business schools across the U.S. and Canada were invited to attend the competition at Rice University in Houston, Tex. Graduate students Nick Amatuzzi, Chip Bacon, Chaitanya Bhuskute, Josh Hill and Jeff Hughes developed a business plan tagged "Recharging Lives," that proposes the development of a universal wireless power platform for charging mobile devices.

Graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurship teams from the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the Eller College will be competing in several more national and international competitions during the month of April.

About the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship

For 21 years, the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at The University of Arizona has been a nationally recognized leader in collegiate and graduate entrepreneurship education. Among the first such programs in the country, the McGuire Center has been a pioneer in the highly dynamic and innovative entrepreneurship discipline, with initiatives that have helped to define this explosive industry. U.S. News & World Report ranks the program 8th among undergraduate and 17th among graduate entrepreneurship programs nationally. Entrepreneur magazine, the only ranking that evaluates entrepreneurship exclusively, ranks the program No. 2 in the nation.

The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in entrepreneurship and social responsibility and its top-five MIS program. Forbes ranks the Eller MBA full-time program among the top 50 nationwide, and the college leads the nation's business schools in generating grant funds for research. In addition to a full-time MBA program, the Eller College offers a part-time MBA program, the Eller Executive MBA, and the ability to combine an MBA with graduate studies in science, engineering, law, pharmacy, finance, MIS and international management. The Eller College of Management supports more than 4,500 undergraduate and 600 graduate students on the UA campus.