Full-time MBA student and teammates sweep business plan competitions

MBA student Michele Romanow, MBA’08, and two Queen’s undergrads have taken home more than $67,000 in cash prizes from competitions for their business plan on the caviar market. The Romanov Caviar team comprised of Michele and Anatoliy Melnichuk, Sc‘07, Artsci’08, and Ryan Marien, Sc‘08, Artsci’08, impressed judges at competitions across North America. Recent first-place wins include a $15,000 prize at Queen’s Entrepreneurs Competition in Kingston, ON; $10,000 at the Northwest Venture Challenge Championship in Boise, Idaho; $7,000 at the New Ventures World Competition at the University of Nebraska; and $10,000 for a second place finish at the Stuart Clark Venture Challenge at the University of Manitoba.

The team members’ impressive win at the IBK Capital-Ivey Business Plan Competition in London, ON, in March netted the $25,000 grand prize and qualified them to enter the prestigious Global MOOT Corp. Business Plan Competition at the University of Texas at Austin and a chance to compete for the top prize of $100,000. While they competed well, they were unable to make the finals in the May event, but continue to enter other competitions.