ENTREPRENEURSHIP FLOURISHING AT
THE FITZGERALD INSTITUTE FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES' SECOND ANNUAL BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

The University of Akron's Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies had their annual Business Plan Competition on Saturday, April 12. Four teams competed for $6,000 in prize money. The winners were:

1st Place ($3,000): TKM Unlimited, Inc.: Angelina Milo, Terry Miller, Rebekah Lee, and Rushi Matkar.
2nd Place ($2,000): EnviroChipx: Prabhu Soundarrajan, Brett Schenck and Jamie Lynne Meade
3rd Place ($1,000): Agency Nurses: Thomas Connor
4th Place: GreaseMonkey.com (Trophy): Chris Shondel, Mary Beth Henderson, Pat Kumar, Ruiquan Wang

According to the director of the competition, Dr. Todd A. Finkle, associate professor of management and Fitzgerald Institute Fellow, the competition was a complete success. "We saw four quality business plans presented to venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, students, faculty, industry and government professionals. There was so much positive energy and everyone had a great time."

The winning team was TKM Unlimited, Inc. They developed a technologically, innovative, modular, universal, tamperproof, and affordable remote controlled door entry system. Their "Ultimate Keyless Solution" remotely locks and unlocks both commercial and residential doors, operates indoor and outdoor lighting, garage doors, security systems, and in emergencies can dial 911.

The company has already received a $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant and is talking with potential venture capitalists about investing in their company.

Their plan was written in Dr. Finkle's graduate entrepreneurship class at the University. Sheila Sterrnecker from the Small Business Development Center also worked with the team and assisted them in obtaining their SBIR grant.

The second place team was EnviroChipx, which was formed in 2002 to exploit the muti-million dollar market for next generation chemical sensors in water, indoor air quality and food safety. The company's focus is on the development of MEMS based sensors that revolutionizes microorganism detection by measuring their unique chemical signatures in air, water and food. There is also a major focus on the development of humidity sensors for the measurement of relative humidity in air. Envirochipx is developing a humidity sensor that is more accurate, cost less, and more versatile than the competition.

Third place went to Agency Nurses, Inc., which addresses issue of rising fees for temporary nursing staff members. The company's goal is to decrease costs to the facility and increase compensation to the nurses. Fourth place went to GreaseMonkey.com who plans to be the most popular and profitable auto repair information and mechanic location on the web. GreaseMonkey.com will employ the latest technology and employ the most qualified auto repair experts while providing superior customer service.
President Luis Proenza and Mr. Tom Chema a partner at Arter & Harris both attended and spoke at the event.

According to Finkle, "Competitions like these give entrepreneurs the opportunity to enhance their visibility, which may lead to eventual financing for their ventures. Our goal is to have academia, industry, and government all work together to enhance the economic environment of the region, United States and international.

The University of Akron's College of Business Administration was recently ranked in the top 25 of business schools with an emphasis in entrepreneurship education in Entrepreneur magazine's 2003 rankings. The ranking in the April 2003 issue places UA's College of Business Administration in the top 15 percent of 200 universities nationwide with an entrepreneurship emphasis in their programs, and alongside such schools as Yale University, Georgetown University, and Purdue University.