February 16, 2009

Finalists selected for Purdue's 22nd annual business plan competition

The five presentations for the event's Black Division, open to Purdue undergraduate students, will run from 8:30-11:30 a.m. The five presentations in the Gold Division, which is for teams with faculty, staff, graduate students, alumni and area business people, are scheduled from 1-4:15 p.m. All presentations are in Discovery Park's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121.

"The Burton Morgan Center is excited to nurture the spirit of discovery-to-delivery in the Purdue community through one the nation's premier business-plan competitions," said Kenneth Kahn, the Avrum and Joyce Gray Director of the Burton Morgan Center. "If you have a concept, invention, business or even dreamed about running your own business someday, this is one of the best forums to get your idea off to a good start."

Finalists in the Black Division are: Adventure Lust, an Internet company for adventure seekers; Hide and Seek, an aircraft design and building company; Mission MatchUp, a social networking Web site to help raise money for mission trips; MuZation LLC, an Internet site that helps music composers connect; and SystemConv Solutions, a data, voice and video service company.

In the Gold Division, finalists are: BIOSCAT, a biotechnology company specializing in identification instruments for biological samples; Liquid Qinetics, a company focused on manipulating liquid droplets through a light-pattern technology; MicroFluidic Innovations, a chemical and biological analyses firm; SiMetal, which is developing an LED manufacturing method using silicon wafers rather than sapphire or silicon carbide; and True North Performance, which is developing an Internet-based assessment tool for the market research industry.

Teams will make 15-minute business plan presentations and then field 10 minutes of questions from a panel of professors, entrepreneurs and venture capitalist judges. A reception for the 22nd annual event is at 5 p.m., followed by dinner and an awards ceremony in the Burton Morgan Center's Venture Café.

Winners in the Gold Division will receive $30,000 for first place, $15,000 for second, $7,500 for third, and $3,750 for both fourth and fifth places. In the Black Division, first place brings $20,000, second is $10,000, third is $5,000, and fourth and fifth place winners each receive $2,500.

In addition to the cash prizes, Ice Miller LLP will provide free legal and consulting services for the top three finishers in the Gold Division. The total value of the services is $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third place.

"The goal of Purdue's Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition is to provide an opportunity for Purdue students to learn about entrepreneurship through the development and presentation of a business idea to a panel of judges," Kahn said.

The late Burton D. Morgan was a Purdue alumnus who started 50 companies, six of which have become major corporations, including Morgan Adhesives, one of the world's largest makers of pressure-sensitive adhesives. He also was president of Basic Search Co., an idea-development firm, and wrote several books on entrepreneurism.

Morgan established the entrepreneurship competition in 1987 with an endowment gift to Purdue. The Burton D. Morgan Foundation funded the $7 million, 31,000-square-foot Center for Entrepreneurship.

The center also leads Purdue's Kauffman Campuses Initiative, which is focused on making entrepreneurship education available across the university's main and regional campuses, enabling any student, regardless of field of study, access to entrepreneurial training.

Writer: Phillip Fiorini, (765) 496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu

Sources: Kenneth Kahn, (765) 496-3223, kbkahn@purdue.edu

Jackie Lanter, Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, (765) 494-1335, lanter@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Journalists who want more information about the Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition finalists, their team leaders, business summaries and business plans, can contact Phillip Fiorini, pfiorini@purdue.edu, (765) 496-3133, or Jackie Lanter of the Burton Morgan Center at lanter@purdue.edu, (765) 494-1335.

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