John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center New Venture Business Plan Competition

JPEC PROGRAMS

Business and Community Services Bldg., Suite 128
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0130
(319) 273-JPEC (5732) Fax: (319) 273-5733
E-mail: jpec@uni.edu www.jpec.org

Creating a Culture for Entrepreneurship at UNI!

PAPPAJOHN NEW VENTURE BUSINES PLAN COMPETITION

Introduction 2007 Winners 2006 Winners 2003 Winner 2002 Winner 2001 Winner 2000 Winner

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Contest Information and Requirements

This competition is sponsored by John Pappajohn, Equity Dynamics, and the Pappajohn Centers. This competition is intended for Iowa university and college students with an interest in starting their own business. Three seed grants in the amount of $5,000 each will be awarded to the top three business plans submitted in the competition. Plans will be judged based on a) Content of Plan and b) Viability of Plan. Application materials, eligibility requirements, and guidelines are available at the UNI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center in Business and Community Services 128 or by clicking on the link below. Please note the Intent to Compete Form deadline will be December 14, 2007. Click this link for the guidelines and entry form: 2007/2008 Competition Guidelines in Adobe Acrobat PDF

Full or part-time undergraduate or graduate students registered for 2007-2008 academic year at any Iowa post-secondary educational institution are eligible for the competition.
Plans may be submitted by an individual or by a team of students.
Teams must consist of at least one student member.
Teams must consist of five or fewer members.
Business plans must be for a start-up business only (not for an existing business).

2007/2008 TIMELINE

December 14, 2007 - Intent to Compete due to UNI JPEC in Business and Community Services Building 128.

February 22, 2008 - Applications and business plans due to UNI JPEC in Business and Community Services Building 128.

March 7, 2008 - Regional judging of plans completed. Winners notified and winning plans sent to state competition.

March 27, 2008 - Winning plans are presented by authors in Des Moines. Three $5,000 awards are selected by the Equity Dynamics judges and presented at a luncheon this day.

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2007 UNI Regional and State Winners. Shown are: (front, l to r) Randy Pilkington, JPEC Director; Ben Frein, Carlos Arguello, Dustin O'Leary (all UNI State winners), John Pappajohn, Equity Dynamics; (rear, l to r) Eric Osmondson, UNI regional winner; Dan Storck and Mr. Thompson, Equity Dynamics.

UNI's Student Businesses Win Business Plan Competition

La Presnsa Hispanic newspaper and E-Holdings were two of the five winners of the 2007 Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan Competition held at Drake University in Des Moines on Thursday, March 29, 2007.

La Prensa is owned by Carlos Arguello, a senior marketing major at the University of Northern Iowa. La Prensa is a free, twice-monthly Spanish-language publication that provides Hispanics in western Iowa with reliable, culturally tailored news and information. The newspaper, based in Carroll, has the largest circulation of all of the Hispanic newspapers in western Iowa.

E-Holdings, LLC is owned by Ben Frein, a junior majoring in computer science and finance, and Dustin O'Leary, a junior marketing major. E-Holdings develops cutting-edge software and on-line applications for public and private use. These applications specialize in satisfying the user's needs and experience. E-Holdings submitted its Facebook application in the Competition.

Eric Osmundson, owner of Contempo Solutions, was the other UNI regional winner who competed at the state-level competition on Thursday. Contempo Solutions provides a mobile platform for text-messaging business-to-consumer communication.

The Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan Competition is an annual event held in the spring semester of each academic year as part of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Iowa Conference. Iowa full and part-time college students with an original new business idea write a business plan and compete at the regional and state levels for monetary awards to help launch their new businesses.

John Pappajohn, founder of the Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers and president and founder of Equity Dynamics Inc., noted the level of the competitors and the business plans was impressive and for that reason he chose to present five businesses with awards this year. Normally, three awards are presented at the state-level.

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2006 UNI Regional Winners
2006 UNI Regional Winner at State Competition. Shown are: (front, l to r) Matt Kinely and John Pappajohn, Equity Dynamics Judges; Justin Appenzeller, Carlos Arguello, Andrea Boyd, and Dan Storck, Equity Dynamics Judge.

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2003 UNI Regional Winners
2003 UNI Regional Winner at State Competition. Shown are: (front, l to r) Henry Munoz and Charity Yesis of Univerxis.com with Equity Dynamics judge Matt Kinely. Winners of the State Competition were: B. Michael Keller and Bryk Lancaster of Flexon Solutions (Univeristy of Iowa), Steven Davis and Brian M. O'Leary of Bio::Neos (University of Iowa) and Megan Wettach of the Megan Amanda Collection (University of Iowa).

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2002 UNI Winner
2002 UNI Regional Winner at State Competition. Shown are: (front, l to r) Randy Pilkington, JPEC Interim Director; Glynis Worthington, UNI student; Katherine Cota-Uyar, JPEC Program Manager; and John Pappajohn, Equity Dynamics. (back, l to r) Ben Long, Equity Dynamics; Maureen Collins-Williams, UNI Regional Business Center; and Joe Dunham, Equity Dynamics.

UNI Team Wins State-wide Business Plan Competition in December, 2002

Cedar Falls - Toothfairycentral.com won one of three $5,000 awards presented Friday at the Third Annual Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan Competition.

Toothfairycentral.com is owned by Glynis Worthington, a part-time UNI college student. Glynis began the business, which features all things tooth fairy, when she could not find the perfect tooth fairy items for her children. The website offers tooth fairy boxes, pillows, and gifts, as well as certificates of accomplishment for children and a travel log of tooth fairy visits around the world. Children lose their teeth from 4-12 years of age and the site is primarily of interest to adults in the lives of these children, such as parents, grandparents, and relatives.

The Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan Competition is an annual event held in the fall semester of each academic year. Iowa full and part-time college students with an original new business idea write a business plan and compete at the regional and state levels for monetary awards to help launch their new businesses. Three $5,000 awards are presented at the state level.

The three state winners were toothfairycentral.com from the University of Northern Iowa; Cactusjo.com, an interactive, multimedia, subscription web page providing family entertainment, from Iowa State University; and Peace of Mind, which designs manufactures, and distributes affordable infant monitors, from the University of Iowa.

"The competition makes you think about your business. . . We're betting on you to be successful," said John Pappajohn, founder of the Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers and president and founder of Equity Dynamics Inc. at the awards ceremony at the Des Moines Marriott Friday afternoon.

The Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers provide a range of innovative education, programs and support services designed for students, entrepreneurs, and existing business owners. The centers provide expertise in all stages of business planning and development, and serve as vehicles to bring new products and technologies to market. Additional information on Tooth Fairy Central is available from their website at www.toothfairycentral.com

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2001 UNI Entrant 2001 UNI Regional Winner at State Competition. Shown are: (front, l to r) Randy Pilkington, JPEC Interim Director; Ben Morrow, UNI student; Katherine Cota-Uyar, JPEC Program Manager; Farzad Mousssavi, UNI College of Business Administration Dean. (back, l to r) Staff of Equity Dynamics: Joe Dunham, Unknown, Dave Keck, Matt Kinley, John Pappajohn.

This is the press release of the 2001 Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan Competition Winners. 2001 Competition Winners

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2000 UNI Entrants
2000 UNI Regional Winners at State Competition. Shown are: (l to r) Trevor Hendrickson, TVi; Kai Stark, KaiAudio; Matt Kinley, Equity Dynamics; John Pappajohn, Equity Dynamics; Joe Dunham, Equity Dynamics; Katherine Cota-Uyar, JPEC Program Manager; Bill Greer, UNI College of Business Administration Dean; and Dmitry Kravtsov, TVi.

UNI Team Wins State-wide Business Plan Competition in December, 2000

Des Moines--The Pappajohn New Venture Competition was held on December 8, 2000 at the Des Moines Marriott. 112 student teams throughout Iowa entered the regional competitions by submitting a business plan to an Iowa college of university. Twelve student teams were selected from the 112 entries and competed in the state-wide competition. Six Iowa colleges and universities were represented. They were University of Northern Iowa, University of Iowa, Iowa State University, Drake, North Iowa Area Community College and Des Moines Area Community College.

The 12 teams submitted their business plan and made a formal presentation to John Pappajohn, Joe Dunham and Matt Kinley of Pappajohn Capital Resources, a venture capital firm located in Des Moines. UNI sent two student teams to the competition. They were KaiAudio (Kai Stark, UNI Management major) and TVi International (Trevor Hendrickson and Dmitry Kravtsov, UNI MBA student).

TVi International received one of three $5,000 awards. The other two awards went to Human Capital Company from the University of Iowa and Wireless Innovations from Iowa State University.

TVi International creates comprehensive marketing materials for companies focusing on web design and database solutions. They will use the money to purchase presentation equipment for the business.

UPDATE: The company successfully established itself in Minneapolis and experienced rapid growth. The growth was not controlled and eventually the owners decided to close the business.

To contact us:

John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center
University of Northern Iowa
Business and Community Services, Suite 128
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0130

Phone: 319-273-JPEC (5732)
Fax: 319-273-5733
Email: jpec@uni.edu