June 9, 2010

Linking entrepreneurialism with creativity is a core value of this college. The Baiada Center at the LeBow College of Business bridges education and entrepreneurship through research, coursework, experiential learning and entrepreneurial thinking. As part of the 2010 Business Plan Competition, the Nina Henderson Awards are presented to Westphal students who participate in the business concept and pitch competition and the full business plan competition who are ranked highest by the judges.

Our winners this year are Patrick Hoffman who worked with Kate Lang and Joseph Slavin (LeBow College of Business) and Cody Ray and Eric Eisele (College of Engineering) in first place for Viridom, a business dedicated to improving the environmental and social conditions of urban settings through new products for the built environment and green building industry; Katie Reilly (Music Industry) who worked with Anna Drozdowski (Music Industry alumna) in second place for Artist Development Music Business, a fully integrated music business model that incorporates artist management, record label functions, publishing, and merchandise that creates partnerships to form artist-friendly entities; and Audrey Diestelkamp, Jaime Diehl, Arielle Esdale and Jenna Shiner in third place for CityConnect, an internet service business marketed specifically to 18 to 26 year olds that offers late night shuttle service to specific locations throughout the city. The winners received $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. Nina Henderson is a trustee of the University and an alumna of our fashion program.

Our second place winners Katie Reilly and Anna Drozdowski also competed in the 2010 Baiada Center Incubator Competition. Katie and Anna competed against six other teams and received private coaching in preparation for their presentation from Steve Bowman, an expert in financial and technical presentations. The presentations were given at the 2010 Entrepreneur Conference on June 2nd at World Café Live.