2004 Shirley Murphy Business Plan Winners
The third annual Shirley Murphy Business Plan Contest was held on November 11, 2004 with winners announced at the Leadership Luncheon on November 12. The Murphy Enterprise Center exists to help in the launch of new business and provide opportunities for students. The contest gives students a way to earn the seed money to start their businesses.
2004 Shirley Murphy Business Plan Contest Winners
First Place - UShip, Inc
First place winner of the 2004 Shirley Murphy Business Plan Contest was a team from the University of Texas at Austin. Team members are senior Neha Agrawal and May 2004 MBA graduates Mickey Millsap, Jack Manickham and Matthew Chasen. UShip is a company that connects those who need to ship furniture and other large items to drivers who will be passing through their locations. While developing UShip, the student team learned that moving companies often do not completely fill their trucks during a moving job and are completely empty on 80 percent of return trips after dropping off a shipment. UShip will have a database for professional movers, as well as those who will be taking road trips and have extra space in their vehicles, which will help them to find shipments with pick-up and delivery locations anywhere along their routes. UShip allows the drivers and customers to agree on a price, then charges the driver a transaction fee of 7.9 percent of the agreed-upon price.
The first place prize is $15,000 and was sponsored by Wells Fargo.
Second Place - CSNW.com
Winning second in the contest was a team from the University of North Texas, CSWN.com (CollegeStudentNeeds Work.com). The team was comprised of UNT students junior Jason Davis, junior Tamsi New and senior Adam Reese. The concept was developed to connect students seeking odd jobs with residents of their college towns who need their services in anything from babysitting to moving furniture, cleaning and lawn mowing. Community residents can search the site free of charge to select a student to contact for help, locating a student through a zip code search or by keyword.
The second place prize is $10,000 and was sponsored by Vincera, Inc.
Third Place - LoDrag, Inc.
Winner of third place in the contest was LoDrag, Inc, a team comprised of students and recent graduates from University of Texas at Austin. The team included senior Amanda Jo Seeliger and four May 2004 MBA graduates-Brien Davis, Rick Bosworth, Kent Allison, and Constans Salcedo. LoDrag, which is being patented by UT's Office of Technology Commercialization, is material that is applied to submerged surfaces, such as ship hulls, to reduce drag in waterways. LoDrag is environmentally friendly and does not add foreign substances to waterways. Computer simulations show that it can reduce drag on ships up to 30 percent.
The third place prize is $5,000 and was sponsored by the Murphy Enterprise Center.
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