Carmine Solutions team members, from left: Jared Strain, Kathryn Glenn, Nathan Bedford and Alyssa Deal.
A Rogers State University team this weekend earned a spot as a finalist in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, a statewide collegiate business plan competition.
RSU advanced two of the eight teams competing in this weekend’s small business division semifinals, which included making a presentation about their business plan and fielding questions from a panel of judges.
Competition winners will be announced during an April 16 awards ceremony in Oklahoma City.
PaRC team members, from left: Angela Wiebener, Matt McMillion, Tami Fulmer and Jacob Stotler.
The RSU team making the finals was presenting information on The PaRC, proposed as northeastern Oklahoma’s first all-inclusive venue designed for use by radio control (RC) vehicles: cars, boats, planes, helicopters and quadcopters. The facility, proposed to be located in Owasso, would provide a convenient, complete and comprehensive place to for RC enthusiasts to participate in their hobby.
The PaRC team includes team leader Tami Fulmer, a business administration-forensic accounting senior from Inola; Matt McMillion, a business administration-marketing junior from Claremore; Jacob Stotler, a business administration-forensic accounting senior from Bristow, and Angela Wiebener, a business administration-accounting senior from Broken Arrow.
Also advancing the semifinal stage was an RSU team presenting a business plan about Carmine Solutions, a limited liability company that provides material requirements planning (MRP) software to small machine shops/companies. The company’s MRP Mechanics software was developed to help machine shops or companies maintain ISO 9000 certification.
Carmine Solution’s team leader was Alyssa Deal, a business administration-management senior from Claremore; Kathryn Glenn, a business administration-accounting junior from Claremore; Nathan Bedford, a sport management junior from Pryor; and Jared Strain, a business administration-accounting sophomore from Claremore.
Teams in the small business division are competing for $40,000 in cash prizes and scholarships. Other semifinal teams in the small business category were from East Central University, Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and St. Gregory’s University.
The RSU team advisor is Charles Atkins, instructor in the Department of Business. Atkins previously advised RSU teams to the Governor’s Cup finals in 2008 and 2009, as well as a 2013 team that placed second in the statewide competition.
The RSU business plan teams have been working on proposals since the fall semester, submitting written business plan in early March. The written plan was reviewed and evaluated by state business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs during the initial round. From there, eight teams were selected to advance to the semifinal rounds on April 10-11.
Business plan teams compete in either the high growth division or the small business division. In the contest’s decade-long history, the contest has awarded more than $1.4 million in cash, $201,000 in fellowships and $65,000 in scholarships. More than 20 Oklahoma small businesses have emerged from the completion. The competition is managed by i2E, Inc., a nationally recognized private not-for-profit corporation focused on growing innovative small businesses in Oklahoma and making a positive impact on the state’s economy.
For more information on the competition, visit www.i2e.org.