WKU News

Bowling Green, KY, December 7, 2015– The WKU Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation of the Gordon Ford College of Business awarded $8000 to student entrepreneurs this week as a part of its annual WKU Business Plan Competition. 

Students competed in two tracks.  Ten student teams competed on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, and six of those student teams successfully made it to the final round this past Saturday. From these six finalists, teams will be chosen to advance to the Idea State U Competition in the spring semester.  A separate track of students, not eligible for moving on to Idea State U, competed on Wednesday where $1500 was awarded to the top teams. 

The top three student teams from Saturday are:
First Place ($2,500): Grant Steier with Maintenance Mayhem Solutions

Second Place ($1,500): Ashley White with Adored Events by Ashley

Third Place ($1,000): Tim LeMastus with CANI

Honorable Mention ($500) was awarded to: Tiffani Walton (9Pentacles), Chia Shen & JD Thomason (D3 3D Printing Service Center), and Chandler Smith & Jamie Harvener (Capital Cinema). 

Judges for Saturday’s event were Catherine Nash, Senior Consultant with Lewis Kalb Group; Mike Nash, a local entrepreneur for over 30 years; Dr. Whitney Peake, Vitale Professor of Entrepreneurship; Krist Schell of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation; and Jeff Hook from the WKU Small Business Accelerator. 

Winning teams from Wednesday’s competition include:  Aaron Burnell, Tiffani Walton, & Chia Shen (Bloom), Sidney Wahle (HillTopp), and Brett Hart (Ready Cab). 

“We are thrilled with the caliber of our student teams this year!  We had six solid plans competing in the final round, and we look forward to working with those teams to prepare them for the Idea State U competition in the spring,” said Dr. Dawn Bolton, Director of the Gordon Ford College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.  “We want to thank all of those involved with the process.”

About The Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

The mission of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is to increase and develop entrepreneurial students through engaged learning, by enhancing connections across campus, and in strengthening community relationships.