PROVIDENCE – A company that is working on preventing medical device-related infections and a team of Brown University students developing an energy drink were the two big winners in the sixth Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.
Announced at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo 2009, the two sets of winners – in the entrepreneur and student tracks – earned $45,300 each in cash and in-kind services from the competition’s sponsors, among whom were 32 businesses, nonprofits and universities.
Led by President Dr. John D. Jarrell and COO David Spenciner, BioIntraface Inc.’s product is intended to curb medical problems that stem from “external fixation.” That’s a process used to stabilize complex bone fractures with a bracing system.
The problem with the process, Jarrell said, is that in the spots where the bracing enters the skin there’s a poor “skin seal,” leading to a 67-percent infection rate. BioIntraface has created a nanotechnology coating material that will cut down on those infections by creating a better seal, he said.
Dan MacCombie, the 23-year-old co-founder of Runa LLC, said he hopes the energy drink can be in stores in the Northeast within a year. Within three years, he hopes the company will be in stores nationally.
“We expect that it will be earlier but that’s our hard time,” he said, adding, “The really exciting thing is that we’re at the center of numerous trends … We combine sustainability with social responsibility with a great business plan.”
In addition to MacCombie, the team includes Tyler Gage, Charlie Harding and Laura Thompson.
Garrett B. Hunter, co-chair and president of the Business Development Company of Rhode Island, which has been the lede sponsor of the program from its inception, thanked the sponsors, as well as the 10 volunteer judges, “their involvement contributes greatly to the well being of Rhode Island.”
The competition, which was founded in 2001, attracted 57 business plans from 12 states. The finalists in both tracks, which will receive $10,000 in cash and services, included, in the entrepreneur track:
• Asphalt Shingle Recycling, led by Dan Horton of Barrington.
• Sidekicks, led by John Smyth of Middletown.
Finalists in the student track were:
• Blink LLC, led by Brown students Eunice Png and Julie Sygiel.
• Minds in Motion Electronics EEG Toys Company, led by Brown students Alexander Baker, Max Lang, Hieu Nguyen and Boram Yi.
Added David Mitchell, dean of the College of Business at Johnson & Wales University, “We congratulate everyone who applied this year, and we especially want to encourage them to pursue their business ideas.”
Additional information about the 2009 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition is available from the nonprofit Business Development Company of Rhode Island (BCDRI) at www.ri-bizplan.com.
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