2005 GRADUATE BUSINESS STUDENT COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2005

Columbus, OH -- Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson announced the top performers from the 2005 Graduate Business Student Competition. The competition was co-sponsored by the Ohio Department of Development’s Small Business Development Center Program (SBDC), KPMG International of Cleveland and the Kent State University Foundation.

“The participating students’ efforts are both valuable and impressive,” said Johnson, who also serves as state development director. “I applaud these future business leaders for their success in the Graduate Business Student Competition and am confident that their contributions will benefit the firms that they assisted and Ohio’s business community.”

The competition was open to college or university students pursuing a Master’s of Business Administration or a similar business-related graduate degree. Students applied their knowledge by working through realistic challenges with existing firms assisted by Ohio’s SBDC program. The student teams developed solutions for practical business problems, submitted a written case study detailing the business scenario and presented an oral presentation to a team of judges.

First-place winners represented Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, while second- and third-place winners represented the University of Dayton (UD). The first-place Indiana-Purdue team worked with Ottenweller Co., Inc., located in Fort Wayne to identify short-term opportunities for expansion and strategic growth. The student team worked with the family-owned metal fabrication job shop to build a set of goals and measures using the Balanced Scorecard system. The second-place team from UD prepared a formal business plan with strategic recommendations for harvesting profits and obtaining growth in existing accounts with Dayton United Metal Spinners, Inc. The company manufactures metal spinning applications and components for flagpoles, as well as lighting and food processing. The third-place student group, also from UD, worked with Mark Concepts, Inc., a company specializing in precision metal forming services. The team completed a strategic analysis of the company with the objective of increasing its value. After four months of working closely with the client companies, this year’s event culminated in the Awards Reception held April 27, 2005 at the Statehouse Atrium.

Each of the teams has a long history with the GBSC, and has built the competition into their respective MBA curriculum. Over the past seven years, the competition has connected 359 MBA students with 83 businesses to create over $6.8 Million of real-world consulting value.

Ohio’s Small Business Development Centers, supported by the Ohio Department of Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration, provide in-depth counseling, technical assistance and educational programs to Ohio’s small businesses through approximately 32 locations statewide. Each office partners with local universities, chambers of commerce and development authorities that share its mission of supporting and expanding Ohio’s business community.