\nOXFORD, Miss. – Two University of Mississippi students plan to take their ideas for entrepreneurship to the next level after winning $5,000 each in the fifth annual Gillespie Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the School of Business Administration.\n<\/p>\n
\nA panel of eight judges selected Jennifer Harjes, an MBA student from Jackson and manager of product resources for the UM Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, as winner of the Best Business Plan, and Julia Bussade, a doctoral student in education and interim director of Spanish and Portuguese from Brazil, as winner of the Best New Business Concept.\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n“The Gillespie
\nBusiness Challenge is a wonderful event that exposes aspiring entrepreneurs to
\nthe process of organizing and selling their business idea to a panel of
\nexperienced judges,” said Ken Cyree, business school dean. “The
\npresentations are similar to what these budding business owners would make to a
\nstart-up funding firm or a bank to get their business off the ground, so the
\nexperience is excellent for honing their business plan for the future. The
\nevent showcases the ingenuity or our students, and the finalists gave
\nimpressive presentations about their ideas.”\n<\/p>\n
\nHarjes entered a plan for
\nFantastic Flatware, a customized utensil business that would allow fans of
\norganizations such as colleges, sports teams and NASCAR to entertain with
\nflatware bearing their college or team’s stamp. Harjes is working on putting
\nher plan into action. She said that the feedback from the Gillespie competition
\njudges was extremely helpful.\n<\/p>\n
\n“I wanted to bounce
\nthis idea off of people who have a lot of experience in business,” Harjes
\nsaid. “The judges gave a lot of really great feedback and offered to
\nintroduce me to people they know in the business. I’m just so excited about the
\nidea.”\n<\/p>\n
\nBussade’s plan,
\nAlienNation, offers long-term car rentals to international students, researchers
\nand other visitors who plan to be in Oxford for an extended period of time but
\nnot permanently.\n<\/p>\n
\n“<\/span>Most \n<\/span>Bussade put her idea into \nTwenty-four undergraduate \nCompetition judge John \nMelanie<\/span> \n“While there were \nAlong \n<\/span>The endowment for the For more information on
\npeople lose money when they buy a car for a short period of time, and the fact
\nthat they usually have to sell it right before they return home makes the price
\neven lower,” Bussade said. “That is where AlienNation Car Rental LLC
\nsounds like a good solution.” <\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nmotion in 2001, but she plans to expand by investing her prize money.\n<\/p>\n
\nand graduate students of all majors entered the competition in March by
\nsubmitting a two-page executive summary of their plans, and 20 semi-finalists
\nwere then chosen for five-minute presentations in front of the judges. The six
\nfinalists gave in-depth presentations April 17.\n<\/p>\n
\nCassimus, of Maki Fresh Restaurant, said he judged the business plans on
\nwhether or not the ideas were believable and applicable, as well as on the
\ninclusion of solid financial data. For the Best New Business Concept, he said he
\nwas looking for an idea that could be “put into play next week and make
\nmoney.”\n<\/p>\n
\nDowell, a competition judge from Smith Barney, said she was looking for ideas
\nthat were “realistic, new, achievable, simple and innovative,” which
\nshe found in Harjes’ plan and in Bussade’s idea.\n<\/p>\n
\nseveral deserving entrants, Jennifer’s plan was not only new, simple and
\nachievable, but she will have limited competition due to her ownership of the
\nlicenses for each logo she uses,” Dowell said. “Julia’s idea was so
\ninnovative and original that it really captured your attention.”\n<\/p>\n
\nwith Cassimus and Dowell, other judges were Wayne Averett of Renasant Center
\nfor IDEAS Home Page, David Guyton of First National Bank of Oxford, Whitney
\nHarris of BancorpSouth, Lance Hickman of BancorpSouth, Rita Floyd of Trustmark
\nBank and Gerald McLemore of SOUTHbank. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\ncompetition was provided in honor of Edwin C. Gillespie, a 1943 business
\nadministration graduate. His widow, Jean Gillespie, and brother, Joe Gillespie,
\na 1950 liberal arts graduate, helped establish the endowment to assist students
\nin promoting concepts in entrepreneurship.\n<\/p>\n
\nthe Gillespie Business Plan Competition, visit http:\/\/www.olemissbusiness.com\/bizplan\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"