Two Southern Nevada teams advance in statewide business plan competition

Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology on Tuesday announced that two Southern Nevada teams have advanced to the finals for the third annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup Business Plan Competition.

The competition is Nevada's only statewide collegiate awards program in which graduate and undergraduate students compete for cash awards exceeding $110,000.

Team leader Abby Royal and Vanessa Abigail Royal of the Community College of Southern Nevada prepared one business plan that was named to the list of finalists. Another business plan finalist was submitted by graduate student team leader Ceri Nishihara, Joshua Apana and John Buchholz of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Other undergraduates who made the finals with business plans were team leader Shauna Butler of Truckee Meadows Community College; team leader Mark Lemos of the University of Nevada, Reno; and team leader Robert Terhune, Mindi Casey, Doug Eckery, Heather Malson, Shunsuke Otani and Daniel Traut of UNR; team leader Stevi Wara and Jocelyn Pulido of UNR; team leader James Weingart and James Keranen of Sierra Nevada College; team leader James Lake, Humberto Solis, Rob Tracht and Jayesh Bhakta of UNR.

In the contest for graduate students, finalists include team leader Phillip Cleveland, Trista Biggs and Regan Losty of UNR; team leader Rashi Tiwari, Yvonne Dang, Sang Mun Kim, Alex Vanderhoff and Kaustav Sinha of UNR; team leader Abbey Smith and Melissa Voigtmann of UNR; team leader David Carr, Juan Quiroz, Ben Menesini, Austin Stanhope and Mark Harmer of UNR; and team leader Jeffrey Stephens and Emily Setzer of UNR.

The graduate and undergraduate teams will compete in oral presentations on April 26 for $20,000 first prizes, $10,000 second prizes and $5,000 third prizes.

"It's incredibly gratifying to see the tremendous effort that went into each one of this year's presentations," Gov. Jim Gibbons said in a statement. "All of our participants are to be commended for their work. It's this type of entrepreneurial spirit and forward-thinking attitude that will shape the future of Nevada's economy, keeping it strong, vibrant and at the forefront for years to come."

The competition added the Lieutenant Governor's Award this year. It will be presented to the business plans that best use clean, renewable or efficient energy technologies and services. The cash prize pool is now $10,000.

"I'm very pleased I have the opportunity to present this significant award," Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki said in a statement. "Students submitted an incredible range of plans that proposed an impressive variety of business ventures which keep environmental issues at the forefront.

"It's crucial that our future business and community leaders continue looking for innovative new ways to protect our natural resources while bolstering our economy. Our finalists are most definitely on the right track."

Undergraduate finalists for the Lieutenant Governor's Award are team leader Mark Lemos of UNR; team Robert Terhune of UNR; and team leader Joshua Waldo-Speth of UNR.

Graduate finalists for the Lieutenant Governor's Award are team leader Whip Thompson of UNR; team leader Rashi Tiwari, Yvonne Dang, Sang Mun Kim, Alex Vanderhoff and Kaustav Sinha of UNR; and team leader Juan Quiroz of UNR.

The three graduate teams and three undergraduate teams were to compete Tuesday in oral presentations for $5,000 first prizes.

The winners of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup and the Lieutenant Governor's Awards will be announced April 26 at an awards gala at the Siena Hotel in Reno.

The business plan competition, funded partly by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and managed by Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, is dedicated to accelerating economic growth throughout Nevada.

The project is funded partly by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration.