EMBA New Venture Competition Awards $10k Prize
Posted on April 14, 2009
A team from Queen’s Executive MBA in Ottawa were the first prize winners in the New Venture competition of the Queen’s EMBA and Cornell-Queen’s EMBA programs.
This is the first year the two New Venture program competitions were combined to allow for a larger prize total and a wider geographical range of competitive teams. The competition is unique as it features teams of Queen’s Executive MBA participants from across Canada and the US presenting their business plans to be judged via video conferencing.
The esteemed judges are members of the business community in Kingston, Ontario and included Dwayne Dulmage of Business Development Bank of Canada, Steve Gammon of KPMG and Mark Hanley of the Kingston Economic Development Corporation. The Queen’s Centre for Business Venturing sponsors the cash prizes for the top two teams.
The top team and $10,000 cash award winners were Shelley Dooher and Lo Chiang Cheng. Aided by their prize money, their new venture plan has now become a reality with their company, School Ready Supplies, up and running. This Canadian company specializes in pre-packaged school supplies for elementary aged students. The company aims to reduce the stress of equipping students with back-to-school supplies by offering customized kits at affordable prices, while providing school councils with an attractive fund-raising opportunity. Their idea took shape in the New Ventures and Management Consulting Project courses during their Queen’s EMBA program.
Joost Wentick, from the Montreal EMBA, won the second prize of $5,000 for his new venture Xoopla, a “wiki” where visitors can learn all about products and services from each other.