EDWARDSVILLE - The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) School of Business recently announced the winners of the 12th annual TheOther40 business competition. Eight students developed business plans and pitched their ideas to compete for $10,000 in prize money.
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Adam Morris, a senior in the School of Engineering, won the $5,000 first-place prize for Power Frisbees, a first-of-its-kind automatic frisbee launcher intended for ultimate frisbee practice.
“The winning pitch from Power Frisbees combined an innovative idea with true market potential,” School of Business Dean Tim Schoenecker said. “We expect the prize money will help that team move its prototype closer to market. I’ll be excited to see where Power Frisbees goes in the future.”
Brayton Larson and Benjamin Kaschke won the $3,000 second-place prize for Future3D, a company that plans to offer an affordable desktop 3D printer filament extruder - a device that processes plastic pellets into plastic wire for 3D printing. In addition to being cost-effective, Future 3D’s version of the device is easy for experienced 3D printer users to use and fits on a desktop.
Brenna Hopper, a senior in the School of Business, won the $2,000 third-place prize with On the Wall Storage and Décor, an innovative jewelry storage solution. The company’s jewelry holders combine the utility of a standard jewelry holder with unique wall decór, allowing customers to have both at once displayed on their walls.
Other finalists included Jacqueline Corral and Ryan Bucher with Handling Basics, Hannah Gassmann with NewsReel, Luke Jackson with Shower Magics, Eric Nelson, MaKayla Watson, Ryty Dupont-Barlow, Kimberly Morrison and Lauren Mulvihill with MaskT, LLC and Bethany Seely with Plannerly.
Schoenecker said he was thankful for the work of the organizers to make this year’s competition a success.
“As the campus was rebounding from the effects of the pandemic, I appreciate the efforts of the Entrepreneurs’ Club student team and Dr. Yohan Choi, the faculty advisor of the club, for organizing the 12th annual The Other40 competition,” Schoenecker said. “They managed every aspect of The Other40 and ensured that the competition went smoothly.
“I also appreciate the efforts of our Small Business Development Center and its director Jo Ann Di Maggio May to provide workshops for the participants and identify judges for the various rounds of the competition.”
The competition’s name, TheOther40, is derived from data suggesting that roughly 60% of startup businesses will fail within the first five years. The goal of the competition is to find, and then financially support, the “other” 40% of startups.
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