Two Entrepreneurial Development Center Clients Win John Pappajohn Business Plan Competition
HIAWATHA, IOWA—September 17, 2008—The Entrepreneurial Development Center (EDC) is pleased to announce that two of its clients are winners of the 2008 John Pappajohn Business Plan Competition. EDC clients, Reference LLC (dba Sensr) http://www.sensr.com of Elkader and Submittal Exchange of Des Moines http://www.submittalexchange.com, are two of the three winners of this year's business plan competition sponsored by John Pappajohn, Equity Dynamics and the John Pappajohn Centers. The third winner is Innovative Vibration Solutions of Ames. This year's winners were selected from a total of eight semi-finalists narrowed down from over 60 initial entries.
Each winner will receive one of three awards totaling $50,000—grand prize of $25,000, $15,000 second place or $10,000 third place and will learn which prize they've earned at the Iowa Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship Conference on October 15th.
"We are proud of Reference LLC and Submittal Exchange for being recognized for the quality of their business plans," said Curt Nelson, President and CEO of the EDC. "A business plan is one of the key ingredients to growing a successful business. It is important for entrepreneurs to have a complete plan—to obtain funding and to simply map out the direction of their business. It is great that the John Pappajohn competition rewards entrepreneurs for investing in their plans."
The Iowa Business Plan Competition is designed to stimulate entrepreneurial activity and greater awareness of the resources available to grow entrepreneurs in Iowa. Winners were selected by a panel of judges consisting of representatives from the John Pappajohn Centers, Small Business Development Centers, Iowa Accelerators/Incubators, Iowa Business Council and private equity firms. The judging panel evaluated the plans on criteria such as reasonable opportunity for success of the company, company meets identifiable need, company's strategy satisfies that need, company has believable competitive advantage, etc.
"It is an honor to be selected as a finalist for the John Pappajohn competition," said Chris Kavars, President and CEO of Reference LLC (dba Sensr). "When we first came to the EDC, Curt stressed the importance of taking the time to craft a well thought-out business plan and helped us get that plan done. Our plan has allowed us to obtain investor funding and now acquire additional funding through the John Pappajohn competition—which will help us continue to meet the milestones set forth in our plan."
About the EDC
The Entrepreneurial Development Center was incorporated in 2003 as a community-sponsored, non-profit business accelerator. The company provides economic growth through the development and expansion of entrepreneurial enterprises and has successfully assisted over 360 Iowa-headquartered businesses. Its focus is on creating local wealth for area re-investment by growing and cultivating regional, national, and international businesses. Visit www.edcinc.org for details.
About Reference LLC
Reference LLC (dba Sensr) designs monitoring instruments that measure and record dynamic movement: acceleration, motion, vibration and tilt, used, for example, in bridge and transit monitoring. http://www.sensr.com
About Submittal Exchange
Submittal Exchange™ is a comprehensive online system for exchanging, reviewing, and archiving construction submittals, RFIs, and other construction communications. http://www.submittalexchange.com
