NCET’s 2009 Governor’s Cup first place winner MJ’s Pizzeria in Reno opened its doors just one year after taking first place in the 2009 Governor’s Cup. President James Blood says if it wasn’t for what he learned during the competition, his business wouldn’t be up and running today.

After winning the competition, James got in touch with Ky Good, Managing Director of the C4Cube business incubator. Together, they reviewed the original business strategy and decided to focus on a take-out and delivery concept similar to Domino’s, rather than on a full-house restaurant and bar concept. This significantly reduced the amount of capital needed to open the business, for which James then turned to Nevada Microenterprise Initiative, which provided the start-up financing needed to open MJ’s. (I’m a connoisseur of pizza and MJ’s pizzas are excellent!)

The Governor’s Cup was originally started as an academic exercise to help Nevada’s college students understand everything that goes into developing a business concept from start to finish. In reality, students began to see the real-world potential for transforming ideas into realities. Given the state of Nevada’s economy, the students’ job-creation efforts could not come at a better time.

The result is that over a dozen participants have gone on to launch businesses based on the plans they wrote for the Governor’s Cup, and in many cases have done so with the help of Nevada’s business community.

This year’s Governor’s Cup has already launched a number of student teams into start-up mode, and their stories demonstrate the level of community involvement and support.

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Scuba Solutions won the 2011 Donald R. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition.

The victory by Scuba Solutions, a graduate-student team from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas that won the Southern Nevada Business Plan Competition in January, capped a strong showing by Southern Nevada entrants.

UNLV’s Rebel Technology Associates won second place in the graduate category; Eighteen at Eighteen, a team of UNLV undergraduates, took first place in the grad category.

Scuba Solutions, which made a wheeled tote to help scuba divers transport their tanks, netted a $20,000 first prize in the Governor’s Cup. The team had won $78,950 in cash and prizes, including legal services from Greenberg Traurig and marketing help from CIM Marketing Partners for winning the Southern Nevada Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Las Vegas Business Press.

UNLV students Chris Powell, Alex Strabala, Curtis Weinstein and Sean Daly comprise Scuba Solutions. Andrew Hardin was the team’s faculty adviser.

Dave Archer, chief executive officer of the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship, said Scuba Solutions deserved its Governor’s Cup prize.

"It was incredibly well-thought-out plan, both the written plan and the presentation," he said. "It shows students that those who take part in the Southern Nevada and Truckee Meadows Business Plan competitions do much better."

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Scuba, mobile application ideas advance to tri-state business competition for students

UNLV graduate and undergraduate student business teams took first and second place at the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition in Reno last week.

A total of 73 theoretical and prototype business plans were submitted to the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, with 12 Nevada undergraduate and graduate teams chosen to compete at the statewide Governor’s Cup competition.

The UNLV graduate team, Scuba Solutions, was awarded first place and $20,000. Their 20-minute sales pitch featured a presentation of two products: the Tank Tote and Quick Release Technology.

The only UNLV undergraduate team that advanced to the Governor’s Cup, 18at18, won first place with a software app similar to the Dummies book series.

Team leader Anthony Alegrete said the idea was first inspired when William Wong, one of the team members, wrote a book on 18 ways to get ahead financially at age 18.

He said that although he was interested in making the app, he only became aware of the Governor’s Cup competition after the team’s faculty adviser, Janet Runge, had suggested he and Wong compete.

“We gathered the team, and we just went to work,” Alegrete said. “Luckily, before the business plan was due, it was spring break.”

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Truckee Meadows Community College students were honored on Wednesday April 20, 2011 at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, after placing third in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition. Katie Knapp, Naomi Cardy and faculty advisor Jolene Hayes were awarded $5,000 to fund their unique retail florist business plan idea, Bumblebee Blooms Flower Boutique, LLC.

“The plan is truly innovative,” said Marie Murgolo-Poore, Ph.D. associate dean of business studies at TMCC. “It creates a very strong sense of community that many businesses lack.”

A third place winner, Bumblebee Blooms Flower Boutique, LLC is a unique floral design business that caters to a variety of different events including weddings, proms and sympathy. The business also offers unique plants, dish-gardens, gourmet chocolates and food baskets.

The Governor’s Cup encourages academically diverse students to work together in order to create business plans as a way to foster entrepreneurship in Nevada. It is the only statewide collegiate business plan competition that provides students with real-world experience in developing business plans. Throughout the competition students receive feedback from business professionals judging the competition. Ultimately, this feedback helps students to improve or amend their business plans making the development of the business a real possibility.