Businesses on the Edge of Tomorrow Get Jumpstart at April 26 Competition
Wednesday, April 16 2008
April 16, 2008 MOSCOW, Idaho – The Vandal Innovation and Enterprise Works (VIEW) program at the University of Idaho will present its annual Business Plan Competition on Saturday, April 26 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the J.A. Albertson Building, rooms 101 and 102. The event is open to the public. The competition offers two areas of focus: innovative ventures that entail transforming an idea into a business venture or bringing a new product technology, process or service to the marketplace; and social entrepreneurship, for which teams develop an innovative solution to social problems and environmental issues. Teams competing on the innovative ventures track include:
- Accelerated Precision, LLC: This innovative product enables any supplier, retailer or regulatory agency that sells or uses biodiesel to test the blend level using a patent-pending ultraviolet spectrophotometry testing system. Some states require the measure of biodiesel blend level to restrict fraudulent selling of the product. Currently, there is one competitor that uses a different technique to measure the blend level. "By being able to test the blend level, you have an idea if you are getting too much or too little of biodiesel," said Scott Black, a senior in civil engineering from Glenns Ferry. Another benefit: since biodiesel has a tendency to gel at cold temperatures, vehicle operators can prevent problems by ensuring the percentage of biodiesel is not too high. Contact: Scott Black, (208) 590-1201 or sblack@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- IR Solar: Nanotechnology has been integrated in many different disciplines including energy resources. This company will incorporate nanostructures into the existing solar cell technology to make solar panels more efficient, allowing a shorter time to recover costs to the consumer. With this particular nanotechnology that absorbs light even when there is cloud cover, the solar panels may be used in areas that have not embraced the sun as an energy source. Utilizing this product can reduce energy costs to consumers and help to negate global warming. "This technology for enhancement of conventional solar cells is a novel and unique approach which does not have large implementation costs," said Jamie Hass, a senior in physics from Pinehurst. "By retrofitting the new technology to the existing solar cell, this would decrease start up costs. The new technology adds much more surface area to absorb the light and also would absorb infrared light which is not being utilized now to make the solar cells 30 percent more efficient." Contact: Jamie Hass, (208) 660-7297, hass0681@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- The Dual Helper: The product is a rear-tire illumination device that increases the rear-view mirror visibility after dark. The device would assist the driver through vehicle position awareness and decrease turning radius accidents. The idea was developed by an individual who drives a school bus. "Our target market is the school bus industry with its strict state regulations; a secondary market will be delivery trucks and moving trucks," said Cathy Paden, a senior in family and consumer sciences from New Meadows. "Starting with a provisional patent we can protect our product for a year. As a market leader, we can make good sales progress before our competitors emerge." Contact: Lane Kleppen, (406) 895-2520, klep7758@vandals.uidaho.edu; or Cathy Paden, (208) 882-1786, ?cpaden@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- DLP Industries: The product is a hot tub accessory item – a hammock. With the Spa Swing, the spa user has the opportunity to choose the optimal submersion level with easy-to-adjust and easy-to-store features. While the Spa Swing was created some 10 years ago, the company only has sold about 70 swings and lacks a strategic direction to produce, distribute and market this product. "We'll initially outsource our production to The Bag Maker, which is located in Eagle, Idaho, and will look to distribute it through our UPS small business account and market it manually, attending trade shows and expos along both East and West coasts," said Ben Harp, a senior in marketing from Boise. "If we determine there is demand, we'll look to further market the Spa Swing in national magazines, such as Sunset Magazine and the Sky Mall publications." Contact: Ben Harp, (208) 874-3897, bharp@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- Mall Joomla: Mall Joomla provides an online marketplace where Web developers are able to sell their products to anyone looking to create or maintain a Web site. The initial target audience would be the Joomla Web design community, which has more than 180,000 members. "The sellers sign up and list their products for free; when consumers buy a product we make a percent commission from each transaction," said Daniel Bietz, a junior in business management and entrepreneurship from Olympia, Wash. "What sets us apart is that instead of doing the designing ourselves, we bring the designers to us to connect them to their market, thus eliminating continual work and maintenance." This is a new venture for Bietz, who has run a successful Web design business for more than three-and-a-half years with clients such as Seattle’s ScanTV, authors Dana Dorfman and Robert Duniway, Consumer University and Univera Pharmaceuticals, to name a few. Contact: Daniel Bietz, (360) 470-3263, danb@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- Northwest Recreation Ambassadors: Northwest Recreation Ambassadors is an outdoor recreation outfitter and operator that specializes in adventure tourism and travel. The recreational packages would offer a variety of guided activities for different skill levels in the Pacific Northwest. "Our most popular package includes skydiving, kayaking, mountain biking and rafting over a period of three to four days," said Pernille Langenbach, a graduate student in marketing from Denmark. The company offers multi-day and multi-activity recreation packages to match the customer’s expectations. NWRA would market, broker, package and coordinate existing guided outdoor experiences offered in northern Idaho, and would offer several activities in niche markets. Contact: Hugo Lecomte, (208) 651-1212, leco3424@vandals.uidaho.edu; or Pernille Langenbach, (208) 596-6124, lang9817@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- Created by Lissa: Created by Lissa specializes in designing customized, hand-assembled stationery and invitations for once-in-a-lifetime events with an initial focus in the online wedding industry. The company strives to create special keepsakes that warm the hearts of customers and recipients. With the increasing nationwide interest in sustainability, beautiful recycled paper is used in all of its collections. "We want to encourage a healthy environment by using papers that are recycled and have a high content of post consumer waste fibers," said Melissa Unruh, a senior in graphic design from Salmon. "We are looking into alternate tree-free papers made from rice, bamboo, cotton and hemp as well as ones that are made by wind, solar, and water-powered paper mills. Our initial market will be the online and local wedding stationery shoppers, but with positive reviews of our wedding designs coupled with our sustainability efforts, we hope to see our market expand." Contact: Melissa Unruh, (208) 669-2254, munruh@vandals.uidaho.edu. Teams competing on the social entrepreneurship track include:
- Vandal Green-Carbon Offset: A study led by the University of Idaho Sustainability Center in 2007 shows that the average student emits 5.5 tons of carbon on an annual basis through basic every-day activities, such as using electricity and running water. Vandal Green is designed to raise awareness about sustainability issues on campus and create a way for students to make a positive impact on campus. "An average tree in the forest will absorb 1 to 1.5 tons of carbon from the atmosphere over the tree’s lifetime," said James Tunca, a senior in finance from Coeur d'Alene. "A $10 contribution to Vandal Green will go toward the planting of five trees in the student’s name, which will offset the amount of carbon they will produce during the 2008-09 academic year." "There are numerous carbon-offset programs currently on the market, but none that are custom tailored to a land-grant institution, such as the University of Idaho," said Natalie Evans, another team member and a music student. "We hope to use the available resources and the business ideas already in use to create a service which will benefit the University of Idaho." All proceeds will go toward funding future sustainability projects through the Sustainability Center and the College of Natural Resources. Contact: James Tunca, (208) 301-3686, jt@vandals.uidaho.edu; or Natalie Evans, (208) 885-9001, evan4217@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- Jackson Street Silos: Formerly the Latah Grain Growers Elevators, Jackson Street Silos would like to create a micro-community of quality living space for both families and businesses in Moscow by renovating the silos into a mix of market, retail, restaurant and commercial lease space combined with unique live/work spaces. The team’s goal is to develop a business plan for a development that attracts tenants that interested in commercial and live/work space in Moscow. The team desires to strengthen the arm of the University of Idaho into the heart of Moscow's Central Business District. "We want to revitalize this abandoned structure and honor our agricultural heritage in a manner that shows adaptive reuse can incorporate sustainable design for the future growth of our community," said Tab Carman, a senior in interior design from Boise. The project will improve the environment through many sustainable energy-saving techniques, such as LEED certified construction, smart growth building principles and stacked greenhouses emphasizing food ecology. The team also is exploring the possibility of offering incentives to "green" tenants. Contact: Tab Carman, (208) 573-0189, tabcarman@vandals.uidaho.edu; or Nick Barry, (208) 733-5577, nbarry@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- RE-ZY: A sustainable campus move-out program, RE-ZY is designed to provide University of Idaho students leaving Moscow with an alternative to wasting reusable items. During move-out times for the winter and summer breaks, high quantities of clothing, food and household items are thrown away and fill the campus dumpsters. The Move-Out program is designed to effectively collect these items and intends to use the collected items for two purposes – donations and re-sale. The first run of the program during finals weeks last fall generated some 4,000 pounds of donated items, including home appliances, beds, books, electrical, bicycles, clothing and much more. "Of this, some 1,100 pounds of reusable items that were directly donated to the International Friendship Association, The Nazarene Food and Clothing Bank, Sojourners Alliance and the Moscow Food Bank," said Willow Falcon, a junior in plant soil science from Benewah County. She said the program will have two annual yard sales, one in the spring that targets the Moscow community and one in the late summer/early fall that targets incoming students. "The spring 2008 collections on campus will be May 7-11 and the first yard sale will be May 17," Falcon said. "We are always looking for volunteers!" Contact: Willow Falcon, (208) 882-2350, falc4570@vandals.uidaho.edu; or Fafanyo Asiseh, (208) 301-1024, fasiseh@vandals.uidaho.edu.
- Harambee and Nnoboa Foundation: Taken from Swahili and Twi, a langauge spoken in Western Africa especially Ghana and Ivory Coast, the name of this foundation means "people coming together to work for the good of all," and will be exemplified in its work. The foundation will collect science and math books that could be distributed to community learning centers in Ghana and Kenya. "The learning and counseling centers will provide places where the youth can meet, have access to books, information and educational opportunities, receive some counseling and study," said Fafanyo Asiseh, a graduate student in agricultural economics and rural sociology. These two countries have been chosen for a number of reasons, including the willingness of educators and the rural communities to partner with the foundation, and the provision of land and personnel to operate the centre. Additionally, the governments in these countries are committed to empowering the youth through education and have made it possible through free primary education. Book drives will be done twice a year in various universities in the U.S. The team hopes that through the participation of the Moscow community and University of Idaho students, people will relate to global problems and find innovative ways to start similar or other projects in various parts of the world. Contact: Fafanyo Asiseh, (208) 301-1024, fasiseh@vandals.uidaho.edu.
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho helps students to succeed and become leaders. Its land-grant mission furthers innovative scholarly and creative research to grow Idaho's economy and serve a statewide community. From its main campus in Moscow, Idaho, to 70 research and academic locations statewide, U-Idaho emphasizes real-world application as part of its student experience. U-Idaho combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. It is home to the Vandals. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu.