College of Business and Public Policy Sponsors Business Plan Competition

The first Business Plan Competition was held by the College of Business and Public Policy (CBAPP) at California State University, Dominguez Hills, with student proposals ranging from an executive catering firm to a transitional home for foster and probation youth.

Conceived by CBAPP’s Advisory Board and the Institute for Entrepreneurship, Small Business Development and Global Logistics, the competition was open to all CSU Dominguez Hills students regardless of major. Twenty-six participating teams wrote abstracts and business plans for their concepts and presented their ideas to a panel of local business owners. The five winners presented outstanding projects that they are currently involved in or are planning to launch after graduation. Cash awards were provided through donations from Citibank and State Farm Insurance.

Ernie Klinger, lecturer and chair of the CBAPP Advisory Board Executive Committee, administered the competition. He says that the experience was “a confirmation of [the students’] enthusiasm for not only the competition but for their concept itself, and how they strived to put a quality plan together. [This is an] example of how great our students are.”

The panel of judges included Wade Downey, CPA (Class of 1992, B.A., accounting), a founding partner of the Downey, Smith and Fier state and local tax consulting firm; Lee R. Petillon, an attorney and principal at Petillon, Hiraide and Loomis specializing in corporate law and author of several books on start-ups; Michael Oard, State Farm recruiting manager; and Rodney A Pierce, partner of Compass Acquisition Partners, LLC, a business consulting and investment banking firm.

First place winner, Lakesha Harris, plans to open a transitional housing and placement program for foster teens and youth on probation in Northern Santa Barbara County. She was awarded $5,000 and eight hours of free professional consultation from Downey, Petillon and Pierce.

“It was a great experience,” says Harris of the contest. “At first I was a little nervous because I’m not a business major. But I know this is something I really want to do and it was a great opportunity to get what I need to get started.”

Second place winner Ronald Glymph, who has taught math and science for 15 years, developed Math Maze, a game designed to give K-12 students proficiency and interest in math through intervention tools for teachers and parents. The graduate student in special education was awarded $3,000 for his business plan.

“The contest gave me ...a critical analysis of what I’m trying to do,” says Glymph, who has gained a patent and is already selling Math Maze. “The judges were straightforward and gave me some good feedback on the project. What it’s done is made it more real for me.”

Daphne Brooks, a senior in international business and vice president of academic affairs, Associated Students, Inc., placed third with her proposal for LeadLink, a Web site designed to give student leaders from high schools to universities access to free web-based leadership resources, services, and connections with other leaders. She was awarded $2,500.

“The competition gave me the opportunity to show off what I’ve learned here,” says Brooks. “I’ve learned how to create business plans and how the business environment works by having actual experts come in and teach us.”

Business majors Jeremy Head and Amelia Hammonds placed as runners-up and were each given $1,500 for their concepts. Head, who currently works as a marketing and business advisor for a prosthodontic and oral surgeon, proposed Head Straight Consulting to address the dental profession’s need for targeted marketing, advertising and public relations.

Hammonds’ business plan outlined her vision for Signature A, a competitive executive catering service targeted at the business community of Santa Monica. She says that entering the contest has been a fulfilling experience.

“Business students always look for ... resources from which to pull from,” she says. “When I saw they were sponsoring this business competition, I said I was going to enter it to see what I can do. I entered and I won and... it built up my esteem, it was so rewarding.”

Head says that beyond the monetary award, the contacts he and the other students made with their judges will be a great benefit. He hopes that next year, more students will take advantage of the opportunities that come with participating in the Business Plan Competition, given the trend toward more creativity and entrepreneurship in a flagging corporate economy.

“A good thing that could come out of this recession is that there will be a lot more small business[es] and entrepreneurship and people who are self-sustaining,” he says. “With jobs being cut and lost, it’s forcing a lot of individuals to go the entrepreneurship route. In doing so, they’re taking risks that they wouldn’t normally take while comfortable under the corporate ladder. It’s making people become more resourceful, become more educated, and do things they did not think they could do. It’s going to make America a lot better in the long run.”

For more information about CBAPP and its programs, click here.

- Joanie Harmon

Photo above: Winners of the CBAPP Business Plan Competition made connections with local business professionals who judged their proposals and concepts.

L-R Standing: Lee R. Petillon, attorney, Petillon, Hiraide and Loomis; Ronald Glymph, graduate student, education; James Strong, dean, College of Business and Public Policy; Rodney Pierce, Compass Acquisition Partners; Jeremy Head, senior, business; and Ernie Klinger, chair, CBAPP Advisory Board Executive Committee. Seated: Lakesha Harris, senior, business, Daphne Brooks, senior and ASI vice president of academic affairs, CSUDH President Mildred García, and Amelia Hammonds, junior, business administration.

Photo by Joanie Harmon