MADE Business Plan Competition

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High Growth and Lifestyle Divisions

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Complete PDF document with all information

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Sponsor's Menu

Sponsorship details

Complete Sponsor Info Package

If you have further questions please contact Larae Hackney:

Phone: 406-243-4830
Email: larae.hackney@business.umt.edu

Platinum Sponsors ($2,500+):

City Brew Coffee

George C. Dodge Foundation

Huse Law Office, P.C.

Pyron Technologies

Jeff Shay-Poe Professor

Surgical Principles, Inc.

Ken & Carol Thuerbach

University of Montana Office of the President

Gold Sponsors ($1,000+):

Allied Waste Systems

Anderson ZurMuehlen

Bank of Montana

Big Sky Brewing Company

Broadway Inn

Campus Inn

First Security Bank of Missoula

Frontier Angel Fund

Glacier Venture Fund - John Marchi

Governor's Office of Economic Development

Hilton Garden Inn

Missoula Federal Credit Union

Montana Board of Investments

Mountain West Bank

NorthWestern Energy

Payne Financial Group
PrintingForLess.com

Quality Construction

saltStudio

US Bank

vSpring Capital

Wells Fargo Bank

2007 John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition

The School of Business Administration at the University of Montana – Missoula hosted the 18^th Annual John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition on May 10, 2007 and over 250 business professionals and community leaders were on hand to watch teams compete for more than $35,000 in prizes. This event showcases the entrepreneurial aspirations of students across the state. Over the eighteen year history of the event more than forty businesses have been started by the competitors who participated in this event. At least seven businesses from the last two years alone have been launched by competitors. One of these businesses, Rocky Mountain Truss Company, will post first year sales in excess of $1.5 million.

For this year’s competition faculty from Montana-based higher education institutions identified twenty-six teams with viable business ventures and had their students submit business plans for the competition. A distinguished group of seven judges met on April 28, 2007 and selected fifteen teams that were invited to compete in the Semifinal Round in Missoula. Ten of the teams were assigned to the High Growth Potential Division while the remaining five teams competed in the Lifestyle Business Division.

The prestigious panel of twenty-six judges consisted of venture capitalists, angel investors, bankers, successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and represented a wide spectrum of professional expertise. The judging panel included former senior corporate executives from companies such as ALLTEL, Bausch & Lomb, D.A. Davidson, Dial Corporation, First Citizen’s Bank, Merck, Microsoft, Nortel, Overstock.com, Starbucks, and 3Com as well as founders of organizations such as Big Sky Brewing, Benchmark Simulations, City Brew Coffee, Freedom Bank, Frontier Angel Fund, Glacier Venture Fund, Montana Business Capital Corporation, Rocky Mountain Venture Capital, Treasure State Bank, and Verisoft.

Pictured: Judges Don Gaumer, Dave Andrews, Diane Smith, Nicole Hagerman

In the High Growth Divisions, Genre and Mode and R-Tribes won their respective divisions in the early morning round and automatically advanced to the Finalist Round. Genre and Mode's business plan centered on providing a more fashion-oriented bag for individuals with diabetes that is currently available on the market. R-Tribes plan is to provide a website that brings individuals with similar sports interests together in a social network that will have significant group buying power in the sports equipment marketplace.

Pictured: Minot Maser of R-Tribes

Meanwhile Kosmobo, Revolution Motorsports, Hide-a-Green, and Hometown Pharmacy placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in each of their respective High Growth Divisions and were provided one more opportunity to pitch their business plans to the judges in the Wildcard Round. Kosmobo plans to provide an online social networking website for health and fitness professionals and their clients. Revolution Motorsports proposed to start a network of motorcycle dealerships that would bring in new products from China. Hide-a-Green's proposed to offer a collapsible putting green housed in an attractive wood cabinet. Hometown Pharmacy's plan was to utilize a geographic rollup strategy to consolidate the fragmented independent pharmacy segment of the market and in doing so provide greater economies of scale and an exit strategy for the independent pharmacist. Each of these teams was competing for the third and final spot in the High Growth Division's Final Round. Hometown Pharmacy emerged as the winner of the Wildcard Round and advanced to the Finals.

Pictured: Jon Jackson of Revolutions Motorsports

In the Lifestyle Division Uptown Market was declared the winner during the morning presentations and Ataraxy Consulting placed second. Uptown Market, a business plan for an organic market in the uptown area of Butte, also advanced to the evening presentation round for the finalist teams.

After thirteen hours of competing, the event concluded with an awards presentation. Competition Director Dr. Jeff Shay remarked, "It's a long day for the students, the judges, and the army of staff and student workers that we have involved with the competition. But it is all worth it to see the learning opportunities that have been provided today. It's a very special competition given the nature of Montana's entrepreneurial economy. I know will see several of these students as business leaders down the road. We really appreciate how the community comes together for this event. There are similar competitions across the country that don't receive nearly the sponsorship and judging support that we do."

Here is a complete list of the awards. Special thanks to Luke George (www.lukegeorge.com) for photographing the event:

Lifestyle Division:

1^st Place - $5,000

Business Name: Uptown Market

Team: Jennifer Prigge and Leo Prigge