UCF Business News

Blackstone LaunchPad Open for Business

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 12:00:35 EDT

On Thursday, September 26, the University of Central Florida (UCF) will open the new Blackstone LaunchPad at UCF. The acclaimed and innovative program provides students with a network of venture coaches and entrepreneurial support to transform ideas into viable companies. The program, made possible by a $1.4 million grant by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, is open to all students, regardless of age or field of study.

“As America’s leading partnership university, UCF is proud to participate in an exciting new alliance to launch the next generation of Florida’s entrepreneurs. This effort will greatly benefit our students and enhance the economic prosperity of our community, which is good news for all of Central Florida,” said UCF President John Hitt at the LaunchPad announcement event in March of 2013.

UCF is the tenth school in the country to launch the program, and the second in Florida. Based on a successful program developed by the University of Miami and expanded by Blackstone over the country, the Blackstone LaunchPad is an innovative program that treats entrepreneurship as a viable career path. The Blackstone LaunchPad at UM has created 100 startup ventures and engaged nearly 2,000 participants since its inception.

“Central Florida is an ideal region for a Blackstone LaunchPad,’ states Cameron Ford, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and director of the Blackstone LaunchPad. This is due in large part to our growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, where talent is abundant and a strong set of mature support services are already in place.”

Located in the UCF Student Union, the LaunchPad is situated at the center of campus and is easily accessible to all students. For more information, visit ucf.thelaunchpad.org.

Helping Hand Association Wins Cornerstone Competition

Thu, 1 Aug 2013 11:27:00 EDT

Photo Credit: Anthony Nguyen

Recently, students took part in the annual Cornerstone Social Entrepreneurship Competition, one of the largest social entrepreneurship service learning initiatives in the world, which helps to highlight outstanding groups who have had a significant impact through their hard work and dedication to community and service organizations. The students are nominated and then evaluated by the Cornerstone Competition Nominating Committee, with the top teams advancing to the Cornerstone Competition Semi-finals.

The first place team from the Summer 2013 semester was "Team Helping Hand Association," which was able to raise $2,765 in cash and cash value donations in eight weeks for the Christian Service Center. Team members included Rui Cui, Julian Hidalgo, Michael Mallek, James Nicholas, Rafael Prado, Mike Safi and Wanhong Zhao.

"This course has taught us so much by forcing us to become leaders and to work as a team respectfully and diligently. [It] needs to be taken seriously for any UCF business student who wants to succeed in their future. We are blessed to have been given first place for the Cornerstone Social Entrepreneurship Competition," said team member James Nicholas.

About Jim and Debbie Balaschak:

The Balaschaks are very community-oriented people who have volunteered their time, talent and treasure to many organizations throughout the community. Their commitment to community and to UCF is demonstrated by their support of the Cornerstone program and the competition. They wish to encourage students to learn the value of volunteering and hope that the experiences gained in the Cornerstone program will continue after graduation. It is thanks to the Balaschaks’ generous financial support that UCF is able to recognize the outstanding students’ activities.

Department of Marketing Congratulates Central Florida Marketers of the Year

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:30:06 EDT

The CBA Department of Marketing congratulates this year's Central Florida "Marketer of the Year" Award (MOYA) winners. Bakari Savage of Central Florida News 13 presented the awards at a luncheon on June 6. The MOYA competition is organized and sponsored by the American Marketing Association Central Florida Chapter.

Marketer of the Year "Leadership" Award: Timothy Megginson, senior marketing manager, Universal Orlando Resorts
Marketer of the Year "Critic's Choice" Award: Sentry Management, accepted by Paul Queen, director of marketing
Marketer of the Year "People's Choice" Award: Evok Advertising, accepted by Larry Meador, CEO

Ronald Michaels, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Marketing, served as one of the judges for the awards competition.

TIDES Develops New Study for Major League Baseball

Thu, 6 Jun 2013 14:07:00 EDT

The University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) has been a key leader in issuing the annual Major League Baseball (MLB) Racial and Gender Report Card. Richard Lapchick, Ph.D., is the principal author of the study and serves as the institute’s director. This year, Major League Baseball equaled its highest grade ever on the issue of racial hiring practices. The 2013 report is available on the TIDES website.

The 2013 MLB Racial and Gender Report Card (MLB RGRC) reports the MLB earned a solid A with improvement on gender hiring practices and raised the overall grade to a B+. One of the key questions asked during the report is whether or not a player has a chance to play or work for a team despite race or gender. The League’s Office also scored high for hiring people of color (B+/A-).

“The front office of the teams should continue to make an effort to create a work force that mirrors America,” says Lapchick. He also believes that the release of the movie “42” was a big factor in the MLB’s good scores. “The release of the movie helped increase focus as the 2013 MLB season began.”

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport is part of the DeVos Sport Business Management Graduate Program in the University of Central Florida’s College of Business Administration. This landmark program focuses on business skills necessary for graduates to conduct successful careers in the rapidly changing and dynamic sports industry while also emphasizing diversity, community service and sport and social issues.

Cornerstone Students Provide Funding and Open Doors for New Support at Out of the Life, a Local Charity Helping Women Escape from Sex Trafficking

Wed, 29 May 2013 16:03:00 EDT

Each year, UCF students in the College of Business Administration form teams of five or six to provide support to local charities, leveraging their business acumen and education. This year, an entire class section of more than 120 students took on one Central Florida charity that is helping women escape from sex trafficking and slavery.

"This experience has changed not just my organization, but has literally changed my life and the lives of countless women who have been abused and forgotten." That's how Jesse Maley, director of Out of the Life, an Orlando area non-profit organization that provides prostitutes and other sex workers who have been victims of human sex trafficking, characterized her experience with three sections of students from the Cornerstone Course.

With a goal of helping Out of the Life secure a new safe house and four additional beds for their clients, these students set up a structure to work across sections and unify their efforts to manage two benefit events—an art show exhibiting original pieces from Out of the Life clients and a "Zombie Insanity" 5K mud run. The events provided an opportunity to promote the organization and secure partnerships with Ann Taylor Loft, Advocare, Roden & Fields Skin Care, and Skinny Girl Cocktails.

These events netted Out of the Life over $16,000 in donations to help the students exceed their goal of four new beds. In fact, Out of the Life added eight new beds. In addition, Out of the Life was able to add two professional staff members, secure identity documents for five women, and provide dental and medical assistance to two more.

Out of the Life will also serve as a partner in a diversion program for sex trafficking victims. If completed, the program will reduce the victim's charges to "Adjudicated, Not Guilty.” The FBI established a "human trafficking task force" in its Orlando office, and the Orlando City Council amended an ordinance to make solicitation of prostitution a felony rather than a misdemeanor.

UCF College of Business Announces Capstone Competition Winners

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:30:00 EDT

A team of five students, known as “Advance Business Solutions,” won the annual Great Capstone Case Competition by proposing a plan for a smartphone wellness app.

Team members Salome Messam (leader), Brett Hannum, Juliana Restrepo, Justin Roszkowiak and Laureen Ramsey developed a smartphone app that would provide people with an interactive platform to better manage their decisions for living a healthier lifestyle. The team was from Regina Taylor’s lab, and was one of 18 teams out of 100 to make it to the semifinals.

(Above: The first-place team, "Advance Business Solutions," led by Salome Messam. Photo credit: Christopher Brown. View photos from the event on our Facebook page.)

The second-place team, named “Advantage Consulting,” came from lab instructor Chaim Letwin’s class and included Daniel Dirani (leader), Robert Costa, Danilo Cuellar, Christina Jones and Parker Kyle. The third-place team, “R. J. III,” was from the lab of David Wo and included Jose Poon (leader), Jordan Gibson, Jeff Simmons and Rachel Harmon.

The Capstone course is under the direction of Bob Porter, Ph.D., a lecturer in the UCF College of Business Administration’s (CBA) Department of Management. Judges for the semifinal round included: Stephen Goodman, Ph.D., Lauryn Migenes, Richard Quinn, Kathie Holland, Marshall Schminke, Ph.D., Shannon Taylor, Ph.D., Michael Ciuchta, Ph.D., Brendan Richard and Ghada Baz.

CBA Hall of Fame members Paul Gregg, ’74 & ’76, and Bob Case, ’70, accompanied by Target representatives Nick Padoan and Grace Blankenship, were the judges for the final round and selected the order of the five winners.

“The quality of these students and their ideas are outstanding,” said Porter. “The UCF College of Business is continuing to evolve and advance as a premier business school and our students demonstrate that in these kinds of competitions.”

The Great Capstone Case Competition is held at the end of each semester and is designed to help students strengthen their analytic, communication, presentation and teamwork skills beyond the classroom by developing recommendations for real-world business issues.

UCF Student Entrepreneurs Win Honors at Harvard Competition

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:46:00 EDT

A UCF student venture earned recognition at the International Business Model Competition (IBMC) held at Harvard University May 3-4. Care Capture, proposed by Mechanical Engineering major Tyler Salem and Computer Science major Juan Roa, took home honorable mention as one of the top eight proposals among the 28 competitors from leading U.S. and international university entrepreneurship programs.

Photo, L to R: Cameron Ford, Ph.D., Tyler Salem, James Davis, Malic Dekkar, George Gramatikas, '04.

Two other UCF venture proposals qualified for the competition. LightCloud was presented by Ph.D. candidate Malic Dekkar from the Institute for Simulation & Training, and Medical Laboratory Science major James Davis presented Optimed Lab Solutions. Both earned praise from event organizer Nathan Furr, Ph.D., for addressing important problems with innovative technology solutions. Over 1,000 venture proposals competed in regional events, and only 28 qualified for this international competition.

“Our students and their venture proposals were competitive with the top teams from Harvard, MIT, BYU, Wisconsin, and other elite universities. I’m extremely proud of how hard they have worked and how much they have learned,” said Cameron Ford, Ph.D., director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Central Florida College of Business Administration.

Tyler Salem’s company Care Capture offers a HIPAA-compliant software application that senior living communities can use to send wellness updates to family members. Some updates may include texts, videos, pictures and recent activities in which the patient participated. Salem has received numerous accolades for his venture, including a second-place finish in the UCF College of Business Administration/Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Joust Business Plan Competition in April.

George Gramatikas, ’04, UCF College of Business Administration Hall of Fame member and founder of Turbine Technology Services, traveled with the team and served as a coach. “UCF students proved worthy competitors in the ‘World Cup’ of business model competition. We should be very proud of how quickly we have arrived on this scene, and the work of UCF staff to enable this achievement, “ he said.

The competition is based on strategic principles such as Lean Startup and Customer Development. It serves as a basis for helping young entrepreneurs become innovative leaders for their own startup companies. The goal of the IBMC is to promote entrepreneurship education and to reward those who are making a difference in the startup business community.

The first-place winner received $25,000 towards his or her company’s startup plan. Second place received $10,000 and third place received $7,500. The judge’s panel was comprised of several leaders in the industry, including Nathan Furr, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at BYU and founder of the IBMC. Also judging the competition were Alex Osterwalder, creator of the widely used Business Model Canvas; Steven Blank, who co-founded E.piphany and wrote the book Four Steps to the Epiphany; and Thomas Eisenmann, the Howard H. Stevenson Professor Of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School.

Students Support Prominent Non-Profit Orgs Through One of World's Largest
Service Learning Initiatives

Fri, 3 May 2013 14:40:41 EDT

Recently, students took part in the annual Cornerstone Social Entrepreneurship Competition at the UCF College of Business Administration. Each year, approximately 2,500 business students taking the Cornerstone class work over 40 hours as social entrepreneurs, helping to promote and execute the social missions of non-profit organizations around the Central Florida area. The competition, one of the largest social entrepreneurship service learning initiatives in the world, helps to highlight outstanding groups who have had a significant impact through their hard work and dedication to community and service organizations. The students are nominated and then evaluated by the Cornerstone Competition Nominating Committee, with the top teams advancing to the Cornerstone Competition Semi-finals.

Photo, above: The first place team, Heroes, with Cameron Ford, Ph.D. View other photos from the event on our Facebook page.

About this year’s Cornerstone Social Entrepreneurship Competition:

This year, 22 teams took part in the competition, which was sponsored by community leaders Jim Balaschak, ’86 & ’92 (CBA Hall of Fame 2007), and his wife Debbie Balaschak, ’88, and judged by prominent local business professionals Carol Ann Dykes, Amy Zeh, Roy Reid, ‘88, and Cathy Mathwig. The finalists were:

The Wild Knights (Instructor: Nasser Kutkut, Ph.D.)

Harry Atys
Jennifer Bellorin
Joshua Garrett
Hector Gama
Thomas Travers
Diana Whitney

Wonder Women (Instructor: Ghada Baz)

Sommer Andrews
Alina Gubanova
Lauren Heben
Oanh Hoang Le
Amy Messerschmidt
Christine O’Connell

Business As Usual (Instructor: Ghada Baz)

Yasin Arshad
Carlos Cortes
Mariah Garcia
John Greene
Helen Riddle
Caitlin Swan

Team Heroes won the event and the Out of the Life team took home the Sustainable Social Entrepreneurship Award.

Heroes:

Team Heroes, led by Management Lecturer Nasser Kutkut, Ph.D., consisted of:

John Olivares
Aisse Baradji
Brandon Bowen
Camila Rocha
Heloisa Moneiro
Jude Jean

Their non-profit partner was the Coalition for the Homeless in Central Florida. The goal was to raise $1000 to purchase school supplies for the homeless children residing in the care of the shelter. To help achieve this goal, the students put on charity events, including a Zumba fundraiser and a 5-on-5 Soccer Tournament (watch the team's promotional YouTube video)

Out of the Life

One very special team, coordinated by Lonny Butcher, director of Career Connections, was recognized by the judges for their philanthropic efforts in serving those who have been victimized by human trafficking.

The team, representing the local organization Out of the Life, not only stunned the judges in their description of what is was like working directly with trafficking victims, but they also delivered a powerful presentation on their efforts to preserve the mission of the Cornerstone initiative. Unlike any other team, the Out of the Life team was comprised of 120 students. The five students presenting on behalf of the group were:

Amber Marken
Coral Martinez
Josh McCarthy
Alexis Norwich
Monet O’Brien
Lidia Rodriguez

Each student played a key role in the team’s efforts and helped raise over $16,000 for the organization.

The team also:

hosted an art show at the UCF Art Gallery showcasing pop art from victims
hosted a 5K called Zombie Insanity, which was held at Omega Ranch in New Smyrna Beach
helped Out of the Life gain new corporate partnerships, secure an additional safe house with eight new beds, and administer two additional staff members to the board of directors

About Jim and Debbie Balaschak:

Phi Beta Lambda Members Excel at State Competition

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:01:00 EDT

Several College of Business Administration students were honored at the Florida Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) state conference which was recently held in Orlando at the Rosen Plaza. The students will now have the opportunity to compete with the best and brightest students from across the nation and the world this summer at the National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, California. The advisor to the group is management instructor Carl Blencke. Congratulations to:

First Place Winners

Keith Wylie – Marketing Concepts (this event had a title sponsor, and first place received $250)
Kelly McClure – Impromptu Speaking

Third Place Winners

Keith Wylie – Justice Administration
Antonio Williams, Eric Newton and Nick Hill-Dixon – Management Analysis and Decision Making

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with a quarter million members and advisors in 12,000 chartered middle school, high school and college chapters worldwide. Its mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs. The association is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. For more information, visit the FBLA website or contact the PBL at UCF team at ucfpbl@gmail.com.

Entourage Red Wins Annual Joust Tournament

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:45:00 EDT

The CBA, in conjunction with the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL), hosted its annual Joust Business Plan Competition finals showcasing students and their innovations and business models. The format for the event is much like the television show, Shark Tank, involving presentations in front of a panel that decides how the teams rank and receive rewards.

Team Entourage Red LLC won first place at the Joust. Students Taylor Cheeley and Nicole Enterlein were the winners of the event and were congratulated by their peers for the ingenious branding of the SMARTWAY Sanitary Cup, which is a disposable urine funnel for women. The SMARTWAY Sanitary Cup enables women to stand and urinate while facing the commode, reducing chances of contracting diseases by eliminating unnecessary contact with contaminated surfaces. The product is inexpensive, mess-free and hygienic.

“I talk constantly about the need for students to get out of their comfort zones, accept the possibility of failure, and use data to drive their decision-making, said Paul Jarley, Ph.D., dean of the college. “Taylor and Nicole took everyone way outside their comfort zones. They learned from their past experience and used data along with a crisp presentation to allay fears, overcome social norms and pitch a potentially disruptive product that no one had given a chance at the beginning of the day.”

“Winning the Joust validates that SMARTWAY Cup is a revolutionary product with serious market potential,” commented Taylor Cheeley. “We’re honored to receive the prestigious recognition, and poised pursue national contracts. We believe the Joust has refined our business model and changed our lives.”

The Joust Business Plan Competition is an annual event that the College of Business Administration hosts on campus. Students get together and form teams that will then present to the judges a strategic business plan along with a business proposition and pitch. For more information on the competition, visit the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership’s website.