Press Release

Eller College entrepreneurs poised to make their mark on Arizona economy

McGuire competition winners are confident as they move forward with business launches

TUCSON, Ariz. – May 15, 2006 – Within the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, an incubator has quietly been nurturing its progeny. It is now set to hatch the next clutch of fledgling ventures. At least eight new enterprises, including the six finalists in the CB Richard Ellis / McGuire Entrepreneurship Business Plans Competition at The University of Arizona, are ready to launch the businesses they created.

Three graduate and three undergraduate entrepreneurship teams earned finalist berths at the 2006 CB Richard Ellis / McGuire Entrepreneurship Business Plans Competition on Friday, April 28. The victors — Cetra Coatings at the graduate level and undergraduate team Upper Hand Athletics — prevailed against other Eller College teams which placed in the top three in national and international competitions earlier this spring.

“From an outsider’s perception, the McGuire event appeared to be a home-team competition. Home teams they were, but in this event, McGuire teams were competing against the best in the nation,” said Sherry Hoskinson, director of the McGuire Center.

All six competition finalists plan to launch their businesses in Arizona within a year. The state economy will soon be infused with new products ranging from scratch-resistant plastic coatings for multiple product applications (Cetra Coatings), to a patch called ElectroLick that delivers bursts of moisture and electrolytes to dry-mouthed runners (Upper Hand Athletics), as well as services that will improve quality of life. The latter include a blood test that quickly detects multiple sclerosis (MSDx), a blood vessel mimic technology used to test medical products (BVM Technologies), a drive-through organic food restaurant featuring air-baked yam chips called ‘Yammies’ (REAL Food Restaurants), and an online service to promote and sell student art (Original Theory).

In characterizing their McGuire experience, competition finalists stressed the words invaluable, incredible, phenomenal networking opportunities, real applications, and the importance of national business plan competitions. “This is the best thing I’ve done in college. The program pulled together all four years,” said Grant Sahag, finance manager for Upper Hand Athletics. “It’s all about application and pressing the entrepreneurial mind and spirit,” he added.

Eller MBA student Robin Meeks, marketing manager of BVM Technologies, which is set to be up and running by December 2006, echoed Sahag. “This project reinforces the core classes and provides real-life experiences,” she said. “We are confident that our technology is needed and that our company will be successful because we were pushed to scrutinize every angle.”

Allan Conger, MSDx operations manager, had a different revelation. “Through the McGuire entrepreneurship experience, MSDx has become more than a business. Multiple sclerosis is a real disease that affects so many more people than I realized, and I have been deeply touched by them. Knowing that we have a product that can help is very satisfying.”

Cetra Coatings’ general manager Patrick Marcus credits General Plasma of Tucson with providing his company the license to the technology around which it is building its business. A Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering, Marcus is looking forward to getting the business off the ground, and is pleased to have bridged the gap between the realms of research science and business. “Many technology people don’t know how to communicate their ideas to the business community,” he said. “Now, I can speak in both worlds.”

To learn more about these and other new McGuire alumni businesses, or the entrepreneurship program, contact Sherry Hoskinson in the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at 520.621.4823.

The McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, established in 1984, is a pioneer in university entrepreneurship.  The capstone program, the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program, offers degree and/or associate programs to graduate and undergraduate students from all UA fields of study. The McGuire Center has been consistently ranked in the top 5% of all programs since its inception, including #2 by Entrepreneur / The Princeton Review and #6 globally by Financial Times.

The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. U.S.News & World Report ranks the Eller undergraduate program #12 among public business schools and five of its departments are among the top 25 — Entrepreneurship, MIS, Marketing, Management and Organizations, and Accounting. The MPA program in the School of Public Administration and Policy ranks in the top 50. Financial Times ranks the Eller MBA full-time program #27 in the U.S. and #57 in the world, and Forbes ranks the program among the top 50 nationwide. The College leads the nation’s business schools in generating grant funds for research. In addition to a full-time MBA program, the Eller College offers an evening MBA program, and the Eller Executive MBA. The Eller College of Management supports more than 5,100 undergraduate and 600 graduate students on the UA campus in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.

Press Contact:
Liz Warren-Pederson, Eller College of Management
520.626.9547, news@eller.arizona.edu