News
$20,000 Awarded to Business Student's Start-Up Venture
Two innovative business plans were chosen as finalists from among dozens submitted by BGSU students as part of the Ron Whitehouse Business Plan Competition. The two finalists had the opportunity to present their business plans during the recent Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship, with the attendees texting their vote for the best one. Aaron Eanes presented his business plan on a sport management company called A & A Management Group, LLC, and Skyler Rogers presented his fundraising company, niceshirt.org.
Winning the Ron Whitehouse Business Plan Competition was niceshirt.org. According to Rogers, this online fundraising platform eliminates barriers to maximize fundraising for great causes. When someone who wants to help a worthy cause contacts the company, it comes up with a t-shirt design, sells the limited edition shirts online, prints and distributes the shirts, and handles the customer service end. So far, the company has shipped to over 47 states and 5 countries. Two of the causes Rogers used as examples in his presentation were the shooting at Chardon High School which killed and injured several students, and a U.S. soldier who lost his limbs when an IED bomb exploded while on duty overseas.
Rogers' company was awarded $20,000 for winning the competition as well as $5,000 worth of software management services from last year's winning business Swatch Finder. Accepting the check were Rogers, along with partners David Cullen and Wesley Parsell.
The other business, A & A Management Group, provides brand, image, personal, and financial management services to sports athletes on and off the field. Eanes pointed out in his presentation that 78% of NFL athletes file for bankruptcy after retirement so there is a need for his company's services.
Eanes is a sport management major with an entrepreneurship minor. Rogers is a business major with a specialization in marketing and a minor in entrepreneurship. Both are graduating in May.
A big thank-you goes to the generosity of BGSU alum Ron Whitehouse ('67) who gifted the money to fund the business plan competition which started last year.
| Shown accepting the check are Rogers, center, with partners Cullen and Parsell to his left. Also pictured are BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey, and to right of Rogers, Ron Whitehouse, Interim Business Dean Dr. Madhu Rao, and Assistant Director of Dallas-Hamilton Center, Blake Underwood. |