 | | | | Three Student Businesses Win Business Concept Dollars
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| Tyler Morita, founder of Z-Audio, assembles his amplifier product. | Three of ten Austin Entrepreneurship Program business concept proposals competed for and received seed funding from the Portland OSU Business Roundtable. A total of five thousand dollars was split among student companies Southern Oregon Sauce and Spice Company, Aspire Inc. (an online publishing co.) and ZAudio (maker of headphone amplifiers) for the development of their businesses.
Keith Frost, founder of Southern Oregon Sauce and Spice Co., took home the top prize of $2,500 for his sauce business. Early market response has been enthusiastic for his Plum Ginger Teriyaki Sauce, Sweet Honey Garlic
Barbeque Sauce, Not-So-Hot Garlic Pepper Sauce, Everyday Dry Rub and Italian Herb Olive Oil. Hoping to capitalize on a $7 billion condiment sauce industry, $2 billion of which is in the specialty and gourmet segment, Frost plans to use his winnings to establish his business as an official entity and target his high quality product to the specialty sector.
"These winnings have proven invaluable to me," said Frost. "They've allowed me to formalize a concept - a dream really-and establish myself as a formal entity. I'm now poised to further develop my business."
Ben Hammond and Adam Smith won $1,500 for Aspire Ink, a web-based business focused on publishing amateur written works to the public. Currently in the concept stage, Aspire Ink plans to use the funds to construct the business website and attract agents, writers and publishers to its services.
Brad Hubbard, Tyler Morita and Jared Yeck of Z-Audio took home the final award winning $1,000. Z-Audio, founded by Morita, is a global company that sells high quality headphone amplifiers and supporting equipment. Currently in the small scale production phase with three working prototypes, the company plans to continue website-based sales and put winnings toward licensing costs and product expansion to satisfy customer demands.
A group of OSU Portland-area alumni, led by co-chairs John Mohler, Maginnis and Carey LLP and Lee Harding, Auto Desk, Inc., judged the submissions and awarded the prizes. Other Portland OSU Business Roundtable judges included Brad Greer, Pacific Crest Technology; Brent Bullock, Perkins Coie; Cliff Finnell, Colliers International; Dwayne Douglas, National Golf Club; Jeff Strickler, Centrisoft Corporation; Jon Bettendorf, Washington Capital Management, Inc.; Mike Wells, Panattoni Development Company LLC; Peter Potwin, Benson Industries, Inc.; Ryan Hildebrand, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Brad McMahon, Unicru. College of Business Assistant Professor Justin Craig and Austin Entrepreneurship Program Director Jon Down served as advisors to many of the participating entrepreneurs.
"It was exciting to be involved in the kick off of this competition," said Mohler. "We had an excellent group of volunteer judges and the judging committee was impressed with the creative and entrepreneurial energy that was put into the proposals. The competition provided a new way for some increased interaction between the Austin Entrepreneurship Program and the OSU alumni in the business community,"
Winners will present an update on their business concepts in the fall during a Portland Business Roundtable event.
The OSU Business Roundtable supports and promotes Oregon State University and provides a forum for members to learn about OSU programs. |
