CNN Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi reflected on his recent CNN Express bus trip to the Wisconsin School of Business in the November 2009 issue of Delta’s Sky magazine.

Velshi’s article entitled, “The Return of the American Consumer,” featured business school students’ comments on American consumer spending habits. Thoughts expressed by Arts Administration MBA student Kelly Gauthier and Julian Moncada, an undergrad majoring in finance and international business, are featured on page 80.

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Three alumni of  the Wisconsin MBA’s Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship have placed in the prestigious Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Competition. Directed by the Wisconsin Technology Council for the past six years, the competition encourages entrepreneurs in the creation, start-up and early-growth stages of high-tech businesses in Wisconsin.

This year, a record 326 entries from 287 individuals in 106 different locales around the state competed for a total of more than $200,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. On June 9, a Grand Prize of $50,000 in cash and services was awarded to Hartland, Wis.-based Eso- Technologies, a start-up company that has developed a monitoring device to reduce the risk of heart attacks for people undergoing surgery. In addition, several category winners were announced for plans contributing to Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services, Information Technology and Life Sciences.

The following Weinert Center graduates were among those selected as category winners for 2009:

NxtMile Custom Running Shoes, a plan presented by Michael Miller (MBA 2008), took top prize in the Advanced Manufacturing category. Miller’s shoes utilize proprietary pressure-mapping technology and are engineered and custom assembled to address the specific biomechanical and orthopedic needs of over-40 and experienced runners, helping them to prevent injury.

Placing second in the category of Business Services was software-intensive firm Sandbox International LLC, founded by Scott Daigger (BBA 2002, MBA 2007) and Todd Wendrick (MBA 2007). Sandbox has developed a proprietary web application to help market researchers identify creative individuals to participate in consumer co-creation initiatives.

Kyle Montgomery, a 2006 graduate of the Weinert Center, came in third in the Life Sciences category for his AquaMost plan. AquaMost wants to commercialize a novel, advanced water treatment technology called photoelectrocatalytic oxidation, which efficiently and economically destroys water-borne pathogens and pollutants.

Click here for more information on the 2009 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Competition and conference.

Eric Jourdan and Kristy Putnam, graduate students in the Masters of Accountancy program at the Wisconsin School of Business, have been awarded post-graduate technical assistant internships at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). FASB is the national standard setter for accounting.

Only 11 students were chosen nationally for the post-graduate FASB internships.  Wisconsin has a long tradition of having accounting students selected for the prestigious posts.

 “Year after year, FASB turns to Wisconsin to fill highly competitive intern positions,” said Accounting Professor Terry Warfield “It’s another indication of the strength of our accounting students and our accounting program.” 

The Department of Accounting and Information Systems at the Wisconsin School of Business has placed at least one student at FASB over the  past nine years. Previous interns were Kristen Mathys and Adam Van Eperen (2008-2009), Josie Cizek (2007-2008), Troy Van Bleek (2006-2007), Brian Goetsch, (2005-2006), Holly Kispert (2004-2005), Lauren Belot (2003-2004), Michael Maffei (2002-2003)  and Jenni Boelter (2001-2002).

Selected students work on topics such as fair value accounting, leasing and revenue recognition, as well as the FASB’s active international accounting projects Jourdan will begin his one-year appointment in July 2009 and Putnam will begin her term in January of 2010.

 Both the undergraduate and graduate accounting programs of the Wisconsin School of Business were ranked in the top 10 in the nation in October 2006,  in the most recent ranking by Public Accounting Report, an independent newsletter covering the accounting profession. 

From high-tech flavored plastics and eco-friendly vending machines to medical devices for emerging countries, students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are pursuing solutions to everyday problems.

Thirty students and a record number of 18 teams competed in this year’s G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition at the Wisconsin School of Business for the chance to win more than $20,000 in prize money.

Students presented their original business plans on Friday, April 17, in Grainger Hall on the UW-Madison campus. The top prize of $10,000 was won by the team for City Dictionary, which offers information on local culture, and language for cities around the world.

“Entrepreneurship leads to innovation — it answers questions and provides solutions to real and emerging needs,” says Anne Miner, professor of Management and Human Resources at the Wisconsin School of Business and director of the competition. “Through this annual event students have the opportunity to come together and create answers to society’s most challenging problems. It is exciting to see these young minds develop the next generation of innovative ideas that will drive tomorrow’s business.”

Since its inception in 1998, more than 300 students have participated in the competition while thousands have attended skill-building seminars to develop their business planning expertise. BusinessWeek and other national media have recognized competition alumni for their successes.

The competition is named for sponsor G. Steven Burrill, a longtime supporter of student innovation and entrepreneurship. Burrill is CEO of Burrill & Company, a life sciences merchant bank with more than $950 million under management. He earned a BBA degree from the Wisconsin School of Business in 1966.

2009 COMPETITION WINNERS

1st  place ($10,000)
City Dictionary

2nd place ($7,000)
Add the Flavor

3rd place ($4,000)
Ecostream

4th place($1,000)
Cultured Kids Immersion Schools LLC

ERLC Choice Award ($100)
VirtuWill

Mini-Competition Award ($250)
PosiPair

Nelson Sustainable Venture Award ($1000)
Ecostream

Social Impact Award ($1,000)
A+ Mission

Read about this year’s competition

A design presented by a team of students from MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning and the Wisconsin School of Business Real Estate MBA program was selected as the winning plan in the 2009 ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. Final-round presentations were held at the University of Denver on April 2. The winning team received a prize of $50,000. [Read more]

From high-tech running shoes and rooftop gardens to solar-powered camp lighting and social networking software for cell phones, students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are pursuing solutions to everyday problems. [Read more]

Four current and five former Wisconsin School of Business entrepreneurship students and Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Bootcamp participants are members of the 51 semi-finalist teams competing in the prestigious Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest. The contest, now in its fifth year, encourages entrepreneurs in the creation, start-up and early-growth stages of high-tech businesses in Wisconsin. [Read more]

Marsha K. Keune, a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, was one of 10 doctoral candidates in the nation to receive a Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellowship in Accounting. She will receive $5,000 during her final year of course work and $20,000 in the following year as she completes her dissertation. [Read more]

A group of undergraduate business students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business have advanced to the national finals of the Deloitte Tax Case Study Competition, to be held in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 16-18. [Read more]

An undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, Ashutosh Gupta, is among the 25 “most promising young entrepreneurs in the U.S.” according to BusinessWeek. [Read more]

Wisconsin MBA students in the Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP) are becoming somewhat of a fixture on CNBC’s Fast Money. In recent months, the students have appeared on the nationally televised business news program, which showcases advice from Wall Street traders.

[Read more]

Wisconsin MBA students in the Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP) are becoming somewhat of a fixture on CNBC’s Fast Money.  In recent months, the students have appeared on the nationally televised business news program, which showcases advice from Wall Street traders. [Read more]

Undergraduate marketing majors Stacy Knuth and Mat Lerner, won $10,000 as the first-place team in the tenth annual G. Steven Burrill Technology Business Plan Competition hosted by the UW School of Business.

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“There may not be a better school in America to study real estate and urban land economics than Wisconsin, ” says Sports Illustrated in a profile of UW football star (and real estate student) Joe Thomas.

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Twenty-seven students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who have devised business plans for products – ranging from high velocity air plows for snow removal to digital displays for windows – will face off in the G. Steven Burrill Technology Business Plan Competition on Friday, April 20 at Grainger Hall, 975 University Avenue.

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