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Carol Reeves, the woman behind the success of business-plan competition teams from the University of Arkansas, has been recognized by Fortune as one of 10 women around the world “Doin’ It for Themselves.”
The prestigious list includes celebrity entrepreneurs Chelsea Handler and Arianna Huffington. It recognizes these women for the passion and ambition displayed in their “quest to create the next great company.”
Here’s an excerpt from the write-up of Reeves:
Her most recent success story: BiologicsMD, which produces a drug that battles osteoporosis. Michael Thomas, Robyn Goforth, Misty Stevens, and Paul Mlakar, Jr., met in the New Venture Development class at the University of Arkansas and formed the company as part of a class project — a foursome Reeves calls a dream team because they each brought a different expertise to the table. Goforth and Stevens provide the scientific background–the two boast PhDs in Chemistry and Biology, respectively. Mlakar, a West Point grad, previously led a privately-held construction company from zero to $22 million in a few years; he acts as Biologics’ CEO. And CMO Thomas is very familiar with consumer marketing, seeing as he is a National Account Manager at Colgate-Palmolive.
Biologics went on to win the 2010 Rice contest, which carried with it about $420,000 in prize money. While other teams presented a medical device that can assess and quantify hand strength and a drug delivery device that mixes and injects freeze-dried medication, Biologics wowed the judges–and Reeves–with its scientific prowess. “I couldn’t even spell the words of the questions [the judges] were asking because it was such high level science,” Reeves jokes, “Robyn and Misty knew it forwards and backwards, so they could answer any scientific question.”
Reeves boasts, “We’ve averaged one startup a year for the last six years. For Arkansas, that’s a big deal.” BiologicsMD won five competitions in 2010 and earned over $630,000 in cash, prizes, and investments under Reeves leadership. It’s now a grownup company, as Reeves calls it, smoothly transitioning from class project to real-life startup. Earlier this year, BiologicsMD was awarded $2.3 million from the Department of Defense.
Reeves is a big supporter of bringing together students with different specialties. In 2006, she developed a Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship program for non-business majors. Her class pairs students with one another to create start-up business plans. The students then present those plans at various competitions.
Congratulations to Carol. This recognition is much deserved.
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Where Are Those Wining Business Plans Now?
UA’s Winning Business Plan Teams for 2010
[...] Fortune magazine took notice by highlighting Carol’s leadership and the amazing success or her tea… High potential startups such as BiologicsMD, Cyclewood Solutions, MerchantView and Silicon Solar Solutions would not exist were it not for Carol’s great leadership. [...]