COB 300 First-Place Team Talks “Trash”

 

 

April 7, 2009

The Participants in this Competition Are All Winners


COB 300 Business Plan Competition 1st Place Team
From left: Linda Cross (judge), Pete Tkachuk, Matthew Trosko, Brian Riddleberger, Terry Bandy (judge), Don Rainey (founder); front row: Holland Henn, Katherine Lukens, Gina Martellacci
The first place team at the 2009 COB 300 Business Plan Competition offered up an alternative solution for trash disposal. The Pyrofuse, Inc. team presented a plan for turning municipal solid waste into electrical energy at Saturday’s competition. For their winning business plan, the team received more than $5,000 in scholarships. The team also won the Accenture Best Idea award for their proposal to turn trash into renewable energy.

James Madison University’s College of Business (CoB) presented $26,000 in scholarships to five teams, including five individual MVP awards. The April 4 competition recognized the best business plans produced in CoB’s 12-credit course that integrates business disciplines: management, operations, finance and marketing. Judges weeded through 140 plans prior to the weekend competition. The plans were produced as class projects by teams. The five finalist teams presented their plans to judges Saturday.

Second place went to a team that proposed Greencastle Geothermal; Luau Lagoon won third place; Connected Software won fourth; and Dirty Paws Mobile grooming won fifth place. MVP awards were presented to Pete Tkachuk, Gina Martellacci, Andrea Bustamante, Alana Dagher and Erik Magnusson.

“There are no losers in today’s competition,” Don Rainey, founder and organizer of the competition, told the group. Rainey is a General Partner at Grotech Capital Group, a venture company that focuses on early stage information technology companies. Rainey said all of the plans presented at Saturday’s competition were of the highest quality and worthy of first place. He also stated that the presentations all equaled or exceeded what he sees in the marketplace on a daily basis.

Rainey was formerly an entrepreneur who started several successful businesses and is a strong supporter of CoB’s efforts to teach students the dynamics of business in an integrated setting. The formation of the plans helps students learn to work in teams and build strong interpersonal skills.

Rainey is a member of the CoB’s Executive Advisory Council (EAC), a group of highly successful business executives. The EAC is a co-sponsor of the CoB competition. This year's finalists were:

Pyrefuse Inc.:
Green Castle Geothermal: Kate Asai, Billy Dale, Chris Gressett, Chad Kiernan, Bianca Trevino and Meghan White.

Luau Lagoon Inc.: Alana Dagher, Michael Rawson, Stephanie Sanders, Michael Santiago, Timothy Shirah, Stephanie Washington and Matthew Wolf.

Connected Software LLC: Allison Asta, Rex Bradford, Andrea Bustamante, Murong Cai, John Cewe and Caitlin Clark.

Dirty Paws Mobile Grooming Service: Angela Amoako, Damon Gowen, Jordan Hockstein, Blythe Klippstein, Krista Lusk and Erik Magnusson.
MVP Winners
From left: Pete Tkachuk, Gina Martellacci, Andrea Bustamante, Alana Dagher, Erik Magnusson