In its first partial year of operation, the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Louisville College of Business has registered an unprecedented string of accomplishments, including qualifying two MBA teams for Global Moot Corp, the $100,000 international “Super Bowl” of business plan competitions.

     Students in the college’s Forcht Center programs have notched victories in a variety of regional and national entrepreneurship events, including the Walmart Better Living Business Plan Challenge, the Georgia Bowl, the Nebraska New Ventures World Competition and Idea State U.  The teams have earned more than $65,000 in prizes and awards.
    “It’s obvious the Forcht Center has focused our energy and taken our program to the next level,” said Dean Charlie Moyer. “Our students are making the most of every new opportunity.”
     UofL Entrepreneurship MBA student teams whose new business plans have earned bids to Moot Corp include necoPlastics (new technology for plastics recycling and manufacturing ) and Tetra One Source (patented, environmentally friendly solutions for reclaiming water and land polluted by industrial processes).
     The necoPlastics team is comprised of MBA students Charles Price, Whitney Austin, Nick Jacoby, Jason Wade and Steve Flaherty.  Tetra One Source student team members are Daniel Johnsen and Abby Lovan.
     “Earning a single invitation to Moot Corp is a worthy achievement in any year,” said Professor Van G.H. Clouse, director of the college’s Entrepreneurship MBA program. “Two in one year puts our program in elite company.”
     Earlier this year, the college hosted its second-annual Brown-Forman Cardinal Challenge competition (UofL’s necoPlastics team posted a second-place finish) and was selected to host the Midwest regional competition for the Walmart Challenge (won outright by necoPlastics).  The two events included an international array of MBA student teams, including the University of Illinois-Chicago, BYU, Cal-Berkeley, Purdue, Michigan, Virginia and University of Manitoba.  The necoPlastics team will compete in the Walmart semifinals/finals in Arkansas on April 16-17.
     Most recently, COB teams won more than $50,000 at Idea State U., a business plan and concept competition open to all Kentucky public colleges.  In the graduate category, the UofL PackStream team (Danny Bower, Troy Thomas, Erik Nelson and Patrick Just) took first place in the business plan competition with their unique retail packaging/promotion program, and UofL’s Fenix Group (Laura Zanewicz, Chad Barras, James Bahe and Nisha Thomas) was awarded first place in the business concept competition for their software designed to revolutionize how scans are used to diagnose cancer, making them more accurate for faster diagnoses.
     In the undergraduate concept competition, the college’s Green Energy Louisville team (Beth Aloise, Yuna Chen, Chelsey Cornett, Todd Colliver, Jon Fischer, Jennie Fyhr, Marylee Kuchta, Jessica Lyle, Dan Nitzken, Allison Sturtzel, Amy Walker and Courtney Woods) earned second place honors for their web-based energy-saving consulting and products plan.  The team also won the elevator pitch competition.
     “The quality of competition this year really raised the bar,” said UofL Professor Sharon Kerrick, the undergraduate teams’ faculty advisor.  “It’s been a great experience for our students. They’re already looking ahead to future competitions.”
     Created in the fall of 2008 with a generous alumni gift from Kentucky-based entrepreneurs Marion and Terry Forcht, the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship at the UofL College of Business is a comprehensive suite of programs that equip students with the skills and experiences needed to create new ventures or recreate existing organizations.