June 23, 2009

CORVALLIS - Oregon State University students are honing their academic accomplishments into real-world skills with the College of Business' Integrated Business Project.

The project puts students in the college's Master's of Business Administration Program to work writing detailed plans for new business ventures.

"The College of Business's IBP plan deeply integrates each course within our MBA program into one comprehensive product proposal," said Ilene Kleinsorge, Sara Hart Kimball Dean of the College of Business.

Students in the MBA program form five-person teams at the beginning of the program and work closely to develop and expand their plans and eventually compete for prizes in the annual Business Plan Competition each spring.

During the competition, each team pitches their idea to a panel of judges composed of veteran business people recruited by the college.

Eight teams competed in this year's competition with 20 students from four teams taking top honors in five categories. Each team earned $500 for each award.

Best Overall IBP award honors were earned by the University Software team, a venture focused on re-licensing university software to other universities, as well as providing maintenance and contract programming. University Software also took the competition's "Most Viable" award, which recognizes a project with the greatest likelihood of succeeding as a start-up business.

The Elevator Pitch award went to On the Way Gourmet, a proposal targeted at corporate clients to deliver gourmet quality food to the gate for airline travelers. Elevator pitches are fast-paced and the competition is designed to simulate the amount of time an entrepreneur might have to pitch his proposal to a potential investor during an elevator ride.

Winning for Best Artistic Plan was Thai House, a plan focused on development of national franchised fast, casual Thai food outlets.

One Click Technologies took honors for Best Technology, with a plan for one-to-one marketing services for mid-cap corporations.

Winning team members and their hometowns include:

  • ALBANY: David Pautsch, On the Way Gourmet.
  • ASHLAND: Viktoria Cherkassova, One Click Technologies.
  • BEAVERTON: Charles Thomas, On the Way Gourmet.
  • CORNELIUS: Ulises "Alex" Vazquez, One Click Technologies.
  • CORVALLIS: Carolyn Boggess, Thai House; Brady Sahnow, One Click Technologies; Gao Zhang, One Click Technologies.
  • EUGENE: Aaron Windeler, Thai House.
  • HILLSBORO: Tasha Taylor, On the Way Gourmet.
  • MANZANITA: Justin Lacche, University Software.
  • PORTLAND: Sarah Baily, University Software.
  • WILSONVILLE: Tobin Davilla, On the Way Gourmet.

    HAWAII

  • MAKAWAO: Blaine Yamamoto, University Software
    • Source: 

    Jeannie Silsby, 541-737-6020

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