First prize went to Chris Miller, a recent Cal Poly graduate, for AdSoft Direct, a mail campaign system and software program.

Second prize went to Elizabeth and Chad Pond’s business plan for Elegant Weddings, a wedding planning venture that capitalized on online support services with the individualized attention of a traditional wedding planner.

Third prize went to Melissa Yerxa and Lee Heringer, both graduates from the College of Agriculture. Their business plan for Local Legends hopes to build a small family recipe for wild game marinades into a profiting business.

2004

Leif Stein won first prize for last year's business plan competition for his business, Yerba de Selva.

Thomas Habtemariam took home second prize for his extensive business, KuluBiz.com. Check it out!

Third prize went to Will Tungpagasit and his business plan for Omnifocal.

2003

Paul Johnson of Carmichael and Ali Torabi from La Selva Beach, made the winning presentation for a Sacramento-based magazine called CenterVoice.

Second prize went to a team headed by Physics Professor Tom Bensky and included mechanical engineering student Eric Brigham from Arroyo Grande, industrial engineering student Christina Ghiorso from Fair Oaks, and computer science major Aaron Peckham from Sacramento. Their plan was for Votehub, an electronic device that provides immediate, in-class feedback on student learning to teachers.

Third prize went to city and regional planning students Andrew Rubin and Jason Gavin for a plan for VirtualCity, an online city tour. Both Rubin and Gavin are from Malibu.

Additional finalists who presented plans were Mike Davis, inventor of X-Rax, an extreme-sports equipment rack, and a holiday-lighting team called Stringers, including Drake Smith, Katie Zufelt, Billy Summers, Brayn Robinson and Matthew Bergh.

2002

Jason Kaltenbach and Brandon Carey received the first place award. Kaltenbach and Carey are Industrial Technology students in the Orfalea College of Business at Cal Poly. Their business plan was for Skatewalker, an add-on aftermarket product that fastens to the bottom of inline skates and allows people to walk safely.

Trent Mueller took the second place award with his plan for Turbo Photo, an online photo business to provide high resolution “stock” photography for graphic designers and art directors on a CD-ROM set. Mueller is an MBA student in the Orfalea College of Business.

Angelo Alcid, a computer science student in the College of Engineering, received the third place award for his plan for No Dice, a network gaming center.

Other finalists were Courtney Montague’s proposal for the Red Barn Restaurant, and Ryan Anderson’s proposal for Equilibrium, a chain of airport stores providing quality of life services and products.