The INOV8 blog tracks the latest news and trends in technology and innovation throughout the world
Brooms have been prominent on the Hill lately. A day after the Diamond Hogs finished off a three-game SEC set from Georgia to give them consecutive league sweeps, aspiring entrepreneurs from the University of Arkansas swept the top awards at the 2010 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup business-plan competition Monday in Little Rock.
About 800 or so packed the Wally Allen Ballroom of the Statehouse Convention Center for the awards luncheon, presented by Arkansas Capital Corporation. Attendees heard from Gov. Mike Beebe and retired Wal-Mart COO Donald Soderquist, each of whom took turns bragging on Arkansas — its environment for entrepreneurs and recent progress made in the areas of per-capita income and education.
And who could argue? In terms of per-capita income, and thanks to organizations like Innovate Arkansas, the state has jumped three spots to 45th in the last three years, Beebe reported (hey, it’s progress). Soderquist further noted educational progress. A course in economics is now required of all Arkansas high-school students to graduate, and the course will include sections on entrepreneurship. Arkansas is the 21st state in the union to mandate economics as part of the high-school cirriculum.
The state is beginning to truly foster an environment for entrepreneurship, leading the way to tech-based, higher paying jobs that not only will attract workers to Arkansas, but entice native Arkansans to stay.
Based on the student entrepreneurs who participated in the 2010 Governor’s Cup, Arkansas’ future is bright. Top winners Monday were from the Hill — Arkansas Auto-fluff and InnerVision. The former recycles end-of-life plastics from the automotive industry. The latter has developed a smart turbine blade that could cut maintenance costs by millions of dollars.
The UA continues to crank out winning business plans. BiologicsMD, a medication development firm, took home second in the grad school division on Monday and won the elevator pitch competition as well. In addition, it won the prestigious Rice University competition held recently in Houston.
Winning the undergrad elevator pitch was ICE — Interactive Convenience Electronics. Another UA team, ICE develops software that allows casino-go’ers to keep gambling while they visit the buffet. You know, roll the dice while you hit the rolls….
Fifty entries were submitted to this year’s competition from 14 state colleges and universities, including three junior colleges — Pulaski Tech, Northark and ASU-Beebe.
Last year, Arkansas teams led by a UA contingent fared well at the 2009 Reynolds Tri-State competition in Las Vegas. Tri-State pits the top four winners from each of the Governor’s Cup competitions in Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma.
Check out more from Monday’s event, which featured an innovative new component, thanks to the handiwork of Little Rock startup and IA client Sumotext.
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