University Marketing & Media Relations

The Rendlex Tool takes first at Warhawk Business Plan Contest

Released: May 13, 2008

Nearly 90 people were in attendance for the second annual Warhawk Business Plan Contest. The top five teams who fought for the top prize of $5,000 were:

SSL&N, who proposed the production of toy boxes that sanitize toys, created by students Neil Henderson, Seth Rickerman, Sara Shepard and Logan Wike.
One Organizer, a free online scheduler by Matt Millican.
The Rendlex Tool, an invention holding tools in the handles of cleaning tools, by Jordan Leahy.
Dominic’s Dismantling and Construction, a company to contract dismantling of buildings, by Dominic Caminata.
Wheymaker, a producer of whey protein powder, by Luke Mullins.

The Business Plan Contest president, Vanessa Lund, was excited to see what the plan presentations would be like since students were able to present for 10 minutes instead of five like last year. "Considering the teams only had four days from qualifying to present and give their presentation, I think they did really well," she said. "In entrepreneurship, it is crucial that you communicate effectively and let people know that you’re confident. I believe the teams that won not only have awesome plans, but they were very effective at exciting everyone else about the idea."

Before the presentation, attendees gave their "Warhawk Cash" to the teams they believed had the most potential. The top 10 teams each had a booth at the event In addition to the top five presenting teams, three other teams that made it to the final round also qualified to earn "Warhawk Cash." These teams include:

A Dog’s Day Off: Doggie Daycare by Rachel McKelvey and Megan Van Horn
Easy Vending Company by Doralee Coehoorn, Cody Braun and Alex Keddie.
Westcoast Streetboards by Eric Schoenborn, Shaun Rester and Ryan Royten.

The team receiving the most Warhawk Cash was Dominic Caminata's Dominic’s Dismantling and Construction collecting $232. The second and third Warhawk Cash winners were One Organizer and SSL&N with totals of $177 and $170.

Then, the top five team plans were judged by local business owners, bankers and university faculty and alumni based on seven general criteria. "Plans were judged on a more detailed basis than the original business plan contest last year," said Lund. "One of the new criteria was adherence to a value model. Will the proposed activities of this venture generate a value for customers sufficient to induce their purchases of the proposed product or service? Does the plan demonstrate an understanding of why customers will buy the proposed product or service?"

Other criteria included market, competitive and financial criteria, which the teams were evaluated on in previous rounds. A new criterion on which the teams had no previously been graded was evaluations of the presentation itself. Teams were apprised as to whether the members communicated the credentials, experience, knowledge and character to manage the proposed business. The judges had already read the written plans and congruency between the presentation at the event and what had been written was assessed.

The winners of the second annual Warhawk Business Plan Contest were:

Third place and $1,000 to SSL&N
Second place and $2,000 to Dominic’s Dismantling and Construction
First place and $5,000 to Jordan Leahy and the Rendlex Tool

UW-Whitewater Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) want to thank all the judges: Don Hughes from Fair Indigo, Peter Scherrer from Scherrer Construction, Jon Kachel from Commercial Bank, Bill Hubbard from CaP Biomaterials, Stu Charland from First Citizens Bank, David Rasmussen from Extract Systems, Nick Gleason, Warhawk Business Plan founder, and Christine Clements, dean of the College of Business and Economics, for their time and effort to review and judge the final 10 plans.

Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization would also like to thank Chris Clements and the College of Business and Economics for supporting the Warhawk Business Plan Contest and contributing award money.

"CEO plans to have a bigger and better contest next spring," Lund said. "We are currently assessing the possibility of opening the contest to other University of Wisconsin colleges and getting even more money to give away. This year, $10,000 was given to the winners, we are hoping to award even more next year."

- Regina Shirkey,shirkeyrm26@uww.edu