Business plan competitors vie for extra $50,000 in development funds

Don Blewett

The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship contacted the finalists in the three Opportunity for Indiana Business Plan Competitions and February's Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition asking them to write a letter describing how they would use the second-phase money. The competitions took place at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Purdue University North Central and Purdue University Calumet, and on Purdue's West Lafayette campus.

"We'll award the money to the company or team that shows the most promise for success and will make the best use of the funds to further the entrepreneurial spirit in Indiana," said Don Blewett, associate director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. "Letters from the teams are due this week, and we'll announce the winner in April in the company hometown of the winner."

Blewett said the announcement will be part of a larger celebration of entrepreneurism to which venture capitalists, business people, academics and government officials will be invited. Preliminary plans include a poster session on promising new technologies and informal networking among those with an interest in building an entrepreneurially based economy in Indiana.

Judges for the $50,000 prize are:

• Blewett.

• Richard A. Cosier, Krannert School of Management dean and Leeds Professor of Management.

• Susan B. Davis, Greater Lafayette Area Small Business Development Center director.

• Carl Drummond, assistant vice chancellor of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

• Mark Hannon, director of career development at Purdue University North Central.

• Logan Jordan, Krannert School associate dean of administration.

• Rick Riddering, Center for Career Leadership Development director at Purdue University Calumet.

• Henry Suerth, entrepreneur in residence at the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship.

• Jerry Woodall, Burton Morgan Center director.

Blewett said the motivation for the second-stage award was not only to help one company but also to advance entrepreneurial thinking in the state.

"For the startup that wins, $50,000 can mean a strategic hire, a prototype product or trips to trade shows," Blewett said. "For the others, this is a chance to look up from the hard work of getting a startup off the ground and think intermediate and long term about their ideas and enterprises."

Last year Indianapolis startup Prosolia Inc. won the award.

The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship is one of five new buildings in Purdue's Discovery Park, the university's research and enterprise hub. The other completed centers are the Birck Nanotechnology Center and the Bindley Bioscience Center. Under construction is the e-Enterprise Center, and plans are in place to build the Discovery Learning Center.

The Lilly Endowment funds that are sponsoring the regional competition are part of a $3.5 million, three-year grant called Opportunity for Indiana that aims to provide more opportunities and good jobs for graduates of the state's colleges, universities, technical schools and high schools. This is the second year the regional competitions have been held.

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. The Burton D. Morgan Foundation funded the $7 million, 31,000-square-foot entrepreneurship center, and a 1987 endowment established the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition with annual prizes of $100,000 to encourage students to pursue entrepreneurial paths.

Writer: Mike Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu

Source: Don Blewett, (765) 494-4485, blewett@purdue.edu

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

Burton D. Morgan Competition winners

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