Winners of the 2013 Gillespie Business Plan Competition at the University of Mississippi.
OXFORD, Miss. – A student who has been designing stylish clothes since age 7 took first place at the Gillespie Business Plan Competition at the University of Mississippi.
The annual competition, organized by the University of Mississippi School of Business Administration and open to any undergraduate or graduate student enrolled at the university, is designed to foster entrepreneurship by encouraging students to develop their business ideas. Winners took home more than $15,000 in prize money.
The winners were Taylor Isabel Thomas for Isabel Thomas Designs; Michael Greer and Stephen Greer for Vault Entertainment; and Tareq Kayyali and Josh Riggs for the Compendia Cancer Companion.
Thomas, a senior psychology major from Atlanta, won $7,000 for her idea for a contemporary women’s dress line.
“The Gillespie Business Plan Competition really opened my eyes to how far I can go in this market and what the next steps are in expanding my business,” Thomas said.
She first saw a flyer when she was trying to find a classroom the first week of school and was most intrigued by the mentorship aspect of the contest.
“My experience with the Gillespie Business Plan Competition was wonderful,” Thomas said. “After two elimination rounds and being chosen as a finalist, I felt really calm and excited about the final presentation. I never practiced what I was going to say because I wanted it to feel natural, which worked out well in the end.”
Vault Entertainment, a mobile DJ and event production service that provides lights, sound and entertainers for all types of events, took second place and was put together by two mechanical engineering sophomores from Clinton, who won $3,000.
Michael Greer said they both appreciate all of the encouragement and technical support they received in the process.
“Writing a business plan forced Stephen and I to look at our business objectively as an investment,” said Greer, who has been involved with Vault Entertainment since 2009. “This helped us realize that running a business should not be like a glorified hobby. We were able to identify the services that we provide, and that we have strong margins. These margins allow us to make an adequate return on our invested assets. Our business plan reflects where profitable growth should occur.”
Kayyali, a member of the 2013 MBA class, won third place and $1,000 for his Compendia Cancer Companion idea, which involved the involved developing a cancer diagnostic laboratory in Oxford. He has been working on the idea since fall of 2012.
“We are planning to exploit the advantages of big data and databases and combine it with next-generation sequencing,” said Kayyali, a native of Canfield, Ohio who earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Youngstown State University. “Through our process, we aim to increase the accuracy of diagnosing a patient and help care providers determine the appropriate drug or therapeutic. We were pleased to walk away with third place and will use the experience to refine our presentation for our next competition in Jackson for the New Venture Challenge.
“We feel that this idea will redefine the perception of treating cancer and demands our efforts in making it a reality for Mississippi and the region.”
Ken Cyree, UM business school dean, was impressed by the plans from all the winners.
“The Gillespie Business Plan bridges the gap between academia and the real world,” Cyree said. “This is a great interface between entrepreneurship and the business world, and all of the winners put together extraordinary plans. The competition provides a wonderful experiential learning opportunity for students and allows them to receive feedback from business professionals.”
Other winners, who each won $1,000, included
– Best Women’s Team: Isabel Thomas Designs, Taylor Isabel Thomas
– Best Sustainable or Green Idea: Southern Rivers Salvage and Scrap, Scott Gresham
– Best Social Entrepreneurship Idea: Gannon Foundation, George Boone
– Best Interdisciplinary Team: Compendia Cancer Companion.