Heading into their final tune-up before the Global Moot Corp competition, the College of Business necoPlastics team of Entrepreneurship MBA students got a boost from one of the circuit’s toughest events.
     The team earned three awards at the University of Oregon New Venture Challenge, a competition that included 20 teams and 60 venture capitalist judges, pushing their total winnings to more than $20,000.

     “Oregon is generally regarded as the most competitive regional competition,” said necoPlastics’ Faculty Advisor Prof. Van Clouse.  “It was great preparation for our next two events.”
     In the Tektronix Elevator Pitch Competition, necoPlastics’ Jason Wade delivered a solo performance that took first place.  The team also received the Best Trade Show award, and won their track in the OEN Lightning Round, a competition that simulates a lunch meeting with venture capitalists.
     “It’s the best any UofL team has ever done at Oregon,” said Prof. Clouse.
     In addition to Wade, the necoPlastics team includes Whitney Austin, Steve Flaherty, Nick Jacoby and Charles Price. Executive in Residence Suzanne Bergmeister is also a faculty advisor.
     The team’s business concept utilizes patented technology to recycle mixed-waste plastics and high-carbon fly ash to create a plastic resin suitable for manufacturing a variety of products.
     Next the team travels to Arkansas for the Walmart Better Living Business Plan Challenge semi-finals and finals, an invitation the students earned by winning the Midwest Regional competition in February.  The team concludes its competition circuit at the $100,000 Global Moot Corp in Austin, Texas, May 6-10, an international event often called the “Super Bowl” of business plan competitions.
     Read more about the successes of necoPlastics and other teams from our Entrepreneurship programs.