Dallas real estate entrepreneurs provide gift for values-based business plan competition

Fort Worth, TX

11/29/2011

With a generous commitment and endowment, Nancy Tartaglino Richards and Lisa Barrentine of First Preston HT have established the Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures Business Plan Competition at the Neeley School of Business at TCU (www.neeley.tcu.edu).  Richards, chair and CEO of First Preston, and Barrentine, president, are known for their entrepreneurial success and philanthropy.

 

The annual competition invites undergraduate college students from around the world to come to TCU to present business plans for profitable ventures that also create meaning for the organization and/or significantly improves quality of life.  Examples include contributions to sustainability, innovations in the health and life sciences, or opportunities for under-represented groups in business.  Winners receive cash prizes and are encouraged to demonstrate their commitment to values by donating all or a substantial portion of their prize winnings to a 501(c)(3) charitable organization of their choosing.  The Neeley Entrepreneurship Center hosted the first Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures Business Plan Competition in April 2011, with students from six invited universities competing for cash prizes.  (Read results here.)  Student teams from more than 20 universities are anticipated to participate in the next competition at TCU, April 19-20, 2012.

 

“The competition is unique among business schools because the proposed businesses must be profitable, but they must also feature a clear set of values that drive the company, permeate the culture and shape policies for giving back,” said Brad Hancock, director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center and the Davis Family Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Neeley School of Business at TCU.

 

Richards founded First Preston HT in 1988, now one of the largest residential asset management companies in the U.S.  Richards and Barrentine also founded HomeTelos, a technology company specializing in online real estate sale and offer management with technology products generating 12 million hits per month.  Richards and Barrentine have been honored by Ernst & Young with the National Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and by the Kauffman Foundation for their support of entrepreneurship and creation of a national network of small and diverse-owned businesses to provide subcontracted services.  They received the Five Star Humanitarian Award in recognition of their community support and leadership.  Richards serves on TCU’s board of trustees, and on the advisory boards of the Dallas Women’s Foundation and the YWCA-Dallas.  Barrentine is a member of the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity-South Collin County, and previously served on the board of trustees for Southwestern University.

 

“This significant commitment to our entrepreneurship program affirms that the Neeley School is the perfect place for students to begin and grow in their entrepreneurial journey, and they have excellent role models in Nancy Richards and Lisa Barrentine, who so successfully combine their entrepreneurial expertise with their passion for community service,” said O. Homer Erekson, John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School.