Three business students selected for Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition semi-finals
The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition has narrowed nearly 300 entries for the Accelerate Michigan Student Competition to 28 semi-finalists, including three Wayne State University business students.
Ken Siegner, an MBA student; Cherise Soulliere, a junior management major and Renita Smith, a senior marketing major; move on to the next round of the competition that begins December 9.
Open to any undergraduate or graduate student attending a Michigan college or university in the fall of 2010, the Accelerate Michigan Student Competition sought top business ideas and concepts submitted by Michigan students.
Entries were received from college and university students representing every corner of the state. All participants were required to submit a one-page business idea.
The competition will award $50,000 to students with the best and brightest new business ideas and concepts.
MBA student Ken Siegner submitted an idea for a system designed to distribute digital content on-demand for trade show attendees.
Siegner’s system will enhance a trade show attendee’s experience, save exhibitors money and significantly reduce the paper waste produced by trade shows.
“When I went to the Orange County Convention Center for a tradeshow, I saw attendees using hand carts to haul around brochures and catalogs they collected during this show,” said Siegner. “And at this moment, I knew there was a better way.”
Trade show attendees receive a USB flash drive which they can use to collect digital content from exhibitors they are interested in. But what is most unique about his system is the USB device is preloaded with an application which helps attendees decide which exhibitors they want to receive information from and helps exhibitors collect and manage leads.
Cherise Soulliere submitted the business idea called Culinary Central, an incubator for start-up food entrepreneurs and existing food businesses. Culinary Central will allow these businesses the chance at perfecting their products in an environment that will nurture their businesses growth.
“My business idea was developed after I realized how hard it is to start a food business,” said Soulliere. “The cost to start and operate your own commercial kitchen is very expensive, and the failure rate for food businesses is very discouraging.”
Soulliere’s Culinary Central will enable food entrepreneurs to start their business with minimized start-up costs and lower risks through the use of shared professional kitchens in a pre-licensed, tailored facility. The facility will also feature a demonstration kitchen and showroom which will be used for cooking classes and as a place for the businesses to promote their products.
“I believe that Culinary Central has the potential to create job opportunities for Michigan residents,” Soulliere said. “With the economy as it is, new businesses need to be in an environment that is centered on their growth.”
Renita Smith has developed the idea Project Re-Tire, a green initiative which involves manufacturing recycled materials, such as crumb rubber, for sale in the United States and for export to buyers in markets including Africa, Australia, China, India, Japan, the Middle East and Russia.
“Over 290 million scrap tires are generated each year in the United States, with Michigan contributing approximately 24 million to that waste stream,” said Smith.
Crumb rubber from recycled tires provides green alternatives for fuel, asphalt and turf. It can also be used to produce new tires.
Smith said her business will not only be funded from selling the recycled materials, but also from merchants that need tire removal. As a green business, Smith also expects to be eligible for some government funding.
In addition to being a semi-finalist for the Accelerate Michigan Student Competition, Smith has also advanced to the second round of the Michigan Clean Energy Prize competition, which will take place in January.
The semi-finalist group will be narrowed down to 10 finalists just prior to the culmination of the competition on December 11.
The New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan granted Ann Arbor SPARK $750,000 to launch the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition on behalf of the Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan, which is composed of four of the region's key business accelerators – Ann Arbor SPARK, Automation Alley, Macomb-OU INCubator and TechTown. Accelerate Michigan is a premier sponsor.
Accelerate Michigan is a partnership between Business Leaders for Michigan and Michigan's University Research Corridor. By uniting Michigan's largest businesses and universities together, Accelerate Michigan aims to place Michigan among the "Top Ten" states for accelerating economic transformation and cultivating entrepreneurism.
PITCH VIDEOS: Accelerate Michigan Student Competition
Semi-finalists from the School of Business Administration
Ken Siegner
Cherise Soulliere
Renita Smith
