Mattress recycling plan wins first Values & Ventures competition

Fort Worth, TX

4/18/2011

The student team from Belmont University in Nashville won the Grand Prize for the first annual Values & Ventures Business Plan Competition held April 15 at the Neeley School of Business at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The team of Emily Hollingsworth, Ayesha Ghaffar and Emilie Lico impressed the five judges with their concept, presentation and business plan for Mattress Works, which provides employment opportunities for the homeless and diverts waste from landfills through deconstructing and recycling used mattresses. The team was awarded $10,000 for the Grand Prize. They also were honored for Best Oral Presentation and Best Values-Based Concept.

 

The TCU student team won second place for HOMEPS, which recycles Styrofoam into Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) used for insulating homes. The team of Thomas Sutherland, Michael Lohan, Steven McDermott and Joel Belko brought examples of their product to show the judges its durability. They won $5,000 and also were honored for Boldest Venture.

 

The team from the University of Houston won third place for their business plan for HOO Schedules, which provides online employee scheduling for grocery and sporting goods stores, and free volunteer scheduling for nonprofit organizations. Allen Bradley, Brian Groce and Adrian Samaniego won $2,000 and also were honored for Best Written Plan.

 

This is the inaugural year for the Values & Ventures Competition, which challenges undergraduate students to create a business venture with strong business viability while creating value and meaning for the organization and significantly improving quality of life. Other teams taking part were from Babson College (Maine), Wake Forest (North Carolina), and New York University.

 

Judges were Jeff Beigert, founder of Biegert Feeds; Chris Kraft, co-founder of Splash Media; Robbie Douglas, Publishing Director for D magazine and recent Director of Business Development for the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee; Sol D. Kanthack, co-founder of brightroom; and Colin McConnell, director of investor relations and special assistant to the managing partners at Satori Capital.

 

The Neeley School of Business at TCU (The student team from Belmont University in Nashville won the Grand Prize for the first annual Values & Ventures Business Plan Competition held April 15 at the Neeley School of Business at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The team of Emily Hollingsworth, Ayesha Ghaffar and Emilie Lico impressed the five judges with their concept, presentation and business plan for Mattress Works, which provides employment opportunities for the homeless and diverts waste from landfills through deconstructing and recycling used mattresses. The team was awarded $10,000 for the Grand Prize. They also were honored for Best Oral Presentation and Best Values-Based Concept.

 

The TCU student team won second place for HOMEPS, which recycles Styrofoam into Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) used for insulating homes. The team of Thomas Sutherland, Michael Lohan, Steven McDermott and Joel Belko brought examples of their product to show the judges its durability. They won $5,000 and also were honored for Boldest Venture.

 

The team from the University of Houston won third place for their business plan for HOO Schedules, which provides online employee scheduling for grocery and sporting goods stores, and free volunteer scheduling for nonprofit organizations. Allen Bradley, Brian Groce and Adrian Samaniego won $2,000 and also were honored for Best Written Plan.

 

This is the inaugural year for the Values & Ventures Competition, which challenges undergraduate students to create a business venture with strong business viability while creating value and meaning for the organization and significantly improving quality of life. Other teams taking part were from Babson College (Maine), Wake Forest (North Carolina), and New York University.

 

Judges were Jeff Beigert, founder of Biegert Feeds; Chris Kraft, co-founder of Splash Media; Robbie Douglas, Publishing Director for D magazine and recent Director of Business Development for the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee; Sol D. Kanthack, co-founder of brightroom; and Colin McConnell, director of investor relations and special assistant to the managing partners at Satori Capital.

 

The Neeley School of Business at TCU (www.neeley.tcu.edu) is nationally ranked and recognized as a premier business school by Bloomberg Businessweek #29 Best Undergraduate, U.S. News & World Report #18 Best Undergraduate Entrepreneurship, Parade magazine College A-List and The Princeton Review Best 301 Business Schools 2010. The Neeley Entrepreneurship Center (www.nec.tcu.edu) was named the 2011 National Model Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The Neeley School is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the highest standard of accreditation for business schools internationally.