WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana high school administrators and teachers can nominate current sophomores and juniors for the fourth annual Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy through April 16.

Team members Si Yi Huang of Greenwood, Mathew Altepeter of Lafayette, Josie Gandy of Frankfort, Kyle Yoder of Indianapolis and Jake Pusateri of Fishers present their business plan for the company “Compact Disk Diagnostics LLC” before judges at the 2009 Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy. (Andrew Hancock/Purdue Marketing and Media)

The weeklong academy will be June 20-26 at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus. The academy is led by Purdue Research Foundation staff with assistance from Purdue University faculty, industry leaders and successful high-tech business entrepreneurs.

Students accepted into the program will work in teams on a fundamental business case to determine the best way for a business to compete, identify capital needs to start a business and devise a plan for successfully managing a business. On the final day, teams give a 15-minute “investor pitch” to a panel of judges in a business plan competition setting.

Members of the three teams with the highest scores will receive college tuition vouchers to pursue a degree at Purdue University. Vouchers range from $100 to $500. All students who complete the program will receive credit toward the university’s Entrepreneurship Certificate program.

There is no fee to nominate a student and no limit to the number of students who can be nominated from a single school. Nomination forms can be downloaded from the academy’s Web site at http://www.purdueresearchpark.com/academy/nomination.asp

Sponsors for the 2010 Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy include the Alfred Mann Institute for Biomedical Development at Purdue University, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Coldwell Banker Shook, Discovery Park, Greater Lafayette Commerce, Sign Art Etc., and the Purdue Research Foundation.

Timothy Peoples, director of the Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy, said additional sponsors are being sought.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Ten finalists have been selected to compete for $100,000 on Tuesday (Feb. 23) during the 23rd annual Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition, which highlights promising student-led entrepreneurship efforts.

Kristeen Hudson and Brian Paplaski outline their company's strategies for success during last year's Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition. (Purdue News Service photo/Andrew Hancock)

The five undergraduate student teams who will present in the Black Division are High Gen, eX-Developed, TerraSolutions, CFB Engineering and ROPES. The five Gold Division teams led by graduate students are Pinta, Smart Hydraulic Solutions LLC, BioRegeneration Technologies, PathoCare and Glytrix Inc.

The top prize in the Black Division is $20,000, while the winner of the Gold Division will receive $30,000.

The five undergraduate teams will present their business plans before a panel of judges during the morning session of the event in Discovery Park’s , Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121. The graduate teams, which can include faculty, local entrepreneurs and Purdue alumni as supporting team members, will present in the afternoon. An awards dinner follows in the center’s Venture Café.

“We have extremely strong student-led teams in the Black and Gold divisions, setting the stage for an exciting event that captures the essence of Purdue’s economic development mission of ‘Discovery with Delivery’,” said Richard Cosier, co-director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and dean of Purdue’s Krannert School of Management.

The undergraduate student teams are:

• High Gen is working to provide design and implementation services for highway projects, using a wind-generated power system for lighting roadways and other utilities. Team members are Christopher Edward and Katelyn Kulczyk.
• eX-Developed is developing a product for the viewing and analysis of the eXtensible business reporting language. Team members are Parker Woods and Joshua Hall.
• TerraSolutions specializes in products made from soybeans and corn, including a cork-like material with a wide variety of uses and biodegradable diapers made of soybeans. Team members are Jacob and Matthew Smoker.
• CFB Engineering is developing an unmanned aerial vehicle for use in reconnaissance and aerial photography. Team members are Matt Cherry, Nathan Forton and Anthony Braun.
• ROPES, or Rapid Orthopedic Pelvic Emergency Splint, is developing a product to help emergency responders stabilize a pelvic fracture faster and more effectively than other current methods. Team members are Jeffrey Fisher and John Poltrack.

The graduate student teams are:

• Pinta is focused on developing search and recommending software products that can make academic and research information more accessible and useful. Team members are Yi Fang, Anthony Sharpe, Nadim Ahmed, Luo Si Aditya Mathur and Suli Xi.
• Smart Hydraulic Solutions is in the process of licensing patents for swash plate pump components from Purdue that have proven to increase pump efficiencies by up to 12 percent. Team members are Eric Lynch, Dheeraj Pandey, Anuj Bathla and Roman Ivantysyn.
• BioRegeneration Technologies is working to commercialize a naturally derived biomaterial scaffold developed by Purdue researchers for tissue regeneration following an injury. Team members are Leonard Kim, Darryl Dickerson, Theresa Gordon and Eric Nauman.
• Pathocare is developing a service that is designed to reduce the human and economic cost of infections in health-care settings. Team members are Colin Sandbach and Michael Triana.
• Glytrix has developed a platform technology for tissue healing and regeneration that also reduces scarring. Team members are Joshua Cox, John Paderi, Alyssa Panitch and Kate Stuart.

Competition sponsors are the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and Krannert School of Management. Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller LLP, which has provided scholarship funding for Purdue’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, also is offering in-kind services to the competition’s top finishers.

New this year, a student on the top finishing team in each division is eligible for a $5,000 annual Krannert scholarship to its full-time MBA program. The student must apply within five years and meet admissions requirements. In addition, winners from each category are eligible for one seat in Krannert’s two-week Applied Management Principles program, commonly known as a mini-MBA, offered each May.

The late Burton D. Morgan established the competition in 1987 with an endowment gift to Purdue. The Burton D. Morgan Foundation funded the $7 million, 31,000-square-foot Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, the first building to open in Discovery Park in 2004.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Registration is open for the fourth annual Purdue University Elevator Pitch Competition, which is set for 2:00p-5:00p, April 2nd at Discovery Park’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121.

The competition, themed Stand Up, Stand Out, Go Up, is open to Purdue students and faculty, as well as entrepreneurs from the Purdue Research Parks in West Lafayette and across Indiana. An awards ceremony will follow.

The contest, organized by Purdue’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, gives each participant two minutes to describe a business venture to judges. Three minutes will be allotted for follow-up questions, said Nathalie Duval-Couetil, director of Purdue’s certificate program and associate director of the Burton Morgan Center.

“A solid, well-crafted pitch about the promise of your business can make a difference when trying to attract the attention of customers and funders, particularly during tough economic times,” she said. “In one to two minutes, the pitch should describe your product or service, your market, your competitive advantage, how you plan to make money, and why someone should invest in you or your team.”

There are two divisions: one for undergraduate students; and one for faculty, graduate students or entrepreneurs from Purdue Research Park companies. Winners in each category will receive prizes of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third. All participants will receive T-shirts for the event.

Lead sponsors are Otis Elevator Co. and Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, a law firm with offices in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, Research Triangle Park and Washington, D.C. Otis Elevator and Bose McKinney & Evans are marking their fourth year of support for the competition.

“We are proud to support this event,” said Jim Coles, co-chair of Bose McKinney & Evans’ Intellectual Property Group. “Our law firm always has had an entrepreneurial spirit, so we understand the drive to invent, to grow and to succeed. Supporting entrepreneurs today will result in better products and services, improved lives and a thriving economy.”

To register, go online to http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/entrepreneurship/elevator/index.php or email Sascha Harrell of Purdue’s certificate program at smharrel@purdue.edu .

The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, through its sponsored initiatives, aims to stimulate entrepreneurship at Purdue and serves as a state, regional and national resource. The center also leads Purdue’s Kauffman Campuses Initiative, which is working to foster entrepreneurship programs on campus to create a culture for student and faculty ideas and ventures.

About Purdue’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship Program

The Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, which is housed in Discovery Park’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, is available to Purdue undergraduate students in all majors. Its purpose is to make entrepreneurship an accessible career option by providing students with the skills and knowledge required to launch new business ventures.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University student and faculty entrepreneurs can register for a Feb. 16 program at the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette to hear firsthand stories about successful business leaders.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by Blue Chip Venture Co., Lilly Endowment Inc. and the Purdue Research Park. It is being organized by the university’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation program.

“One of our goals is to share real-life success stories of entrepreneurs in the state of Indiana,” said Nathalie Duval-Couetil, director of the certificate program. “Innovative products and services can be developed anywhere – not just on the coasts – and find success on a national and international level. Our speakers prove that.”

Scheduled speakers include Jeff Ready, founder and CEO of Scale Computing Inc.; Joseph Pekny, Purdue professor of chemical engineering and co-founder of Advanced Process Combinatorics Inc.; and Jim Bartek, business development manager of the Purdue Technology Center of Indianapolis and co-founder of Seyet LLC. All three firms are based at one of the four sites in the Purdue Research Park network.

Christopher Beltran and Paroon Chadha, co-founders and vice presidents of Passageways LLC, a Purdue Research Park-based firm, will serve as program moderators. They also teach the entrepreneurial capstone course for the certificate program.

The program will take place in the large conference room on the first floor of the Herman and Heddy Kurz Purdue Technology Center, 1281 Win Hentschel Blvd., West Lafayette. It will begin at 6 p.m., with networking and refreshments following the program.

Although the event is open to the public, space is limited. For reservations, contact Sascha Harrell at 765-494-3805, smharrel@purdue.edu, by Feb. 12, or register online at http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/entrepreneurship/parkevent.php

About Purdue’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program

The Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, which is housed in Discovery Park’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, is available to Purdue undergraduate students in all majors. Its purpose is to make entrepreneurship an accessible career option by providing students with the skills and knowledge required to launch new business ventures.

About Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette

The 725-acre Purdue Research Park has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The park is home to more than 160 companies. About 100 of these firms are technology-related and another 39 are incubator businesses. The park is owned and managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation created to assist Purdue University in the area of economic development. In addition to the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, the foundation has established technology parks in other locations around Indiana including Indianapolis, Merrillville and New Albany.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In an economy shedding jobs, some unemployed people might think it’s time to become their own boss. Before they go to work for themselves, they’ve got another job to do: develop their business idea, said Maria Marshall, a Purdue University agricultural economist and rural business development specialist.

Starting a business isn’t as simple as it might seem, Marshall said. Prospective entrepreneurs should consider the type of product or service they plan to offer, the market for that product or service, and how much revenue they will need to keep their business afloat, she said. A Purdue University online resource can help.

The Purdue INVenture Business Planner can assist individuals navigating the entrepreneurial maze.

“We all know of people who started a business on a wing and a prayer, where they have an idea and then in two months they’re up and running,” Marshall said. “Normally, it takes more planning than that.

“You don’t necessarily need to have a 30-page business plan, but you do have to go through some kind of process to determine how you’re going to start a business and think through such questions as ‘Who am I going to sell this product or service to?’ ‘How much are they willing to pay?’ and ‘What’s the price I’m going to have to charge?’ Those types of issues need planning and some type of research.”

When economic conditions are poor, would-be entrepreneurs are often less likely to invest large sums of money in a business startup, Marshall said.

“In tough economic times, you don’t often have a lot of business startups that need a lot of capital,” she said. “You’re more likely to see a big increase in service-type businesses. For example, you might see people painting houses or doing lawn work or providing other household services.”

Entrepreneurs should ask themselves whether the market is already saturated with their product or service and, if so, how they can capture market share.

“With a new product or service you’ll have to educate consumers on what you’re offering and why they need it,” Marshall said. “If you’re offering a product or service that’s already available, then the issue becomes whether you can provide better value than your competitors. You may need to change packaging, the ingredients or how you service customers.”

And then there’s pricing.

“When setting a price, it’s important to think about the value your product or service is providing to the customer,” Marshall said. “The value is more important than the price because when consumers buy something, they’re looking at the value the product or service is providing versus the price they’re paying. When you lose that perspective you tend to underprice your products and services and end up leaving a lot of money on the table.”

The Purdue INVenture Business Planner can assist individuals navigating the entrepreneurial maze. The planner is free and available online at https://www.agecon.purdue.edu/planner/

“It is designed to be user-friendly and to guide someone through a business plan by asking them questions,” Marshall said.

“We have it set up in six stages, the first stage of which is what I call the back-of-the-napkin approach. If you go no further than the first stage, the first four questions will ask you, ‘Why do you want to start the business?’ ‘Who is your customer?’ ‘What’s your product?’ and ‘What’s the break even?’ So if you’re starting a bakery, how many cakes do you have to bake to break even and keep the doors open?”

Subsequent stages help the user analyze the market, establish how the product or service will be produced, determine what it will take to market the product or service, and calculate expenses and returns.

“When you complete the questions you can generate a report and it will put your answers into a business plan format,” Marshall said. “The business planner helps you decide whether or not your business will be successful.”

INVenture is offered through the Agricultural Innovation and Commercialization Center (AICC), housed in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics. AICC provides a wide range of resources and tools to aid entrepreneurs.

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Small Business Administration today unveiled a new Web site geared to the 50-plus entrepreneur, providing useful information, links and resources vital to starting, growing and expanding a small business.

The new Web site at www.sba.gov/50plusentrepreneur features interactive information and links to help 50-plus entrepreneurs consider the benefits and rewards of business ownership, and to help them make informed choices about business ownership.

“The SBA is working hard to increase opportunities for small businesses of the baby boomer generation at every stage of their business development through better technology tools and effective services through the agency’s district offices and resource partners,” SBA Acting Administrator Sandy K. Baruah said. “We believe 50-plus entrepreneurs will drive significant new business growth in the coming years.”

Components of the new Web site include a self-assessment feature to help the aspiring entrepreneur determine his or her business readiness, information on borrowing and credit, and inspirational success stories from baby boomer entrepreneurs. The Web site will help users evaluate the reasons for business ownership after age 50, the risks involved, and how to devise a plan of action at every phase of business development.

This is the first new offering under the structure of the re-launched Office of Entrepreneurship Education (OEE). OEE combines SBA’s online education programs, business and community initiatives, and outreach to underserved markets under a single umbrella.

As baby boomers consider career and lifestyle shifts that extend beyond their work careers, tapping into the world of business ownership can allow them to leverage their flexibility, know- how and business acumen to go into business for themselves. Many have already joined the ranks of the nation’s self-employed and small business owners.

The SBA provides financial, management and technical assistance to thousands of small business owners throughout the country. The Web site can be accessed at all times, as well as the SBA’s other online resources and free online training at www.sba.gov.