Business Plan Competition Winners

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at Illinois State University held its annual business plan competition on Friday, December 7th in the College of Business Executive Boardroom. A reception and awards ceremony was held immediately following the event. Participating in the competition were two student teams carefully chosen from a slate of approximately twenty groups who had all created business plans during the previous year.

Judging the competition were local and regional community leaders including: Katie Altrichter, general manager for Eastland Mall; Julie Kubsch, owner of Specs Around Town; Michael McFarland, commercial loan officer for First State Bank of Bloomington; Valerie J. Ross, branch manager for the Small Business Administration; and Harlan Fuller, instructional assistant professor in the Department of Accounting at Illinois State. The teams were judged in accordance with generally accepted criteria for quality business plans. Each participating group received a cash award as well as a plaque in recognition of their quality work.

Total Vinyl Protection Business Plan Team and Dr. Mark Hoelscher

The winning team was Total Vinyl Protection. Its members are:

• Jon Andrew - Business Administration and Entrepreneurship Small Business Management - East Peoria 
• Maurice Douglas - Entrepreneurship Small Business Management - Streamwood
• Dylan Punke - Entrepreneurship Small Business Management - Bloomington
• Bryan Schoenecke - Entrepreneurship Small Business Management - Bloomington
• Alex Yount - Entrepreneurship Small Business Management - Oswego

The team is now refining its work in preparation for the upcoming international business plan competition at Ball State University later this spring. “In the past two years, the teams representing ISU in the Ball State Competition have finished in the money!” explained Mark Hoelscher of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies in the College of Business. “That is a great reflection on our College and the quality of our business students.”

Members of Total Vinyl Protection invested between 350 to 400 hours on their plan.  Dylan Punke felt the undertaking taught him how important it is to have a team in which all of the members are equally eager and dedicated to the project. “If you are going to get involved in this you have to take the event seriously. The persistence required and the opportunity for real world settings provide a learning experience that textbooks can't begin to compete with,” said Punke.  “I really feel as if I have the tools and knowledge to live an entrepreneurial life!”