Finalists will compete for thousands in cash prizes at the 2008 UH Business Plan Competition

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Tracy Taira, (808) 956-5357
Shidler College of Business
Posted: Apr 28, 2008

Five teams have qualified for the final round of theUniversity of Hawaii Business Plan Competition, and will be battling for the top prizes on Thursday, May 1 at the UH School of Architecture Auditorium from 4 to 6 p.m.

Teams will have 10 minutes to present their plans and then 10 minutes to answer questions from a panel of judges. A banquet will be held after the Competition at the Waialae Country Club, where the top‐placing teams will be announced and awarded. The final competition is free and open to the public. The banquet is a private function.

FINALISTS:

Banana Man‘s Tasty Treats Company (Jeff Berg, Christina Nguyen and Corey VanDlac)-Banana Man‘s Tasty Treats Company offers gourmet frozen dipped bananas as a breakfast,dessert and snack.

KokuEco (Anna Chan, Damian Davila Rojas, Randy Ho, Elizabeth Oberholtzer and Adrian Pieron)-KokuEco provides clients with advanced solutions for conservation by fusing technology, form,function and consciousness.

NanoGreen, Inc. (Donavan Kealoha, Mehrdad Nejhad, Richard Russ, Lee Taylor and Atul Tiwari)-NanoGreen, Inc. specializes in nanotechnology research and development in advanced structural chemicals and materials.

ProActive Carbon (Vadim Kostyukhin, Keith Sakuda and Jim Vlahos)-ProActive Carbon uses flash carbonization technology to provide a sustainable solution to the accumulation of biofuel/agricultural biowaste.

Sim Training Hawaii (Eileen Beamis, Benjamin Berg, Lawrence Burgess, Takuya Inoue and Kathleen Kihmm Connolly)-SimTraining Hawaii is dedicated to improving patient safety through the use of state‐of‐the‐art medical simulation‐based training.

About the CompetitionThis is the ninth UH Business Plan Competition, organized by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship & E‐Business (PACE). The Competition‘s objectives are to provide meaningfullearning experiences for students interested in pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities, and to build a community network that encourages entrepreneurship. For more information about the UH Business Plan Competition, contact PACE at 956‐5083 or visit www.UHBusinessPlanCompetition.com.

Participants:

· 50 teams submitted executive summaries to compete in Round 1

· 22 teams submitted business plans and presented their plans in Round 2

· 5 teams will present their plans in the Final Round

· 25 coaches volunteered their time and expertise to mentor teams

· 50 judges volunteered their time and expertise to critique executive summaries and business plans

Prizes:

· $20,000 (1st), $10,000 (2nd) and $5,000 (3rd) overall prizes sponsored by the Shidler Collegeof Business

· $20,000 UH Technology prize sponsored by the Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development

· $5,000 Sustainable Business prize sponsored by Hawaiian Electric Company

· $2,000 All‐Student Team prize sponsored by HiBEAM (Hawaii Business and Entrepreneur Acceleration Mentors)

· $2,000 Undergraduate Team prize sponsored by HSDC (Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation)