R.I. Business Plan announces 6 finalists

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PROVIDENCE – Six student and entrepreneur finalists were named today in the 2008 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.
“The plans we received, which covered a broad spectrum of businesses, were of very high caliber,” said Co-chair Garrett B. Hunter, president of the Business Development Company of Rhode Island. “Above all, they show that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Rhode Island.”
This year’s contest features $170,000 in prizes. It attracted 58 business proposals from sectors including software, biotechnology, manufacturing and retail sectors. Applications came from six states, plus Sweden, Russia and India, including plans from Brown University, Bryant University, Johnson & Wales University, New England Institute of Technology, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University and Salve Regina University.
Named as finalist in the Entrepreneur Track are:
• MissingPatient.com and lead applicant Timothy Holgrem of Westerly, for a proactive system to expedite the distribution of missing-person announcements, designed around a Web site (MissingPatient.com) and 24/7 call center.
• Vitrimark and lead applicant Arijit Bose of Providence, for an imaging company using new technology – cryogenic transmission electron microscopy – to identify early-stage breast and prostate cancer and help drug developers make earlier go/no-go decisions on new medications.
• Replicator and lead applicant Joseph Flaherty of Watertown, Mass., planning to pair Web-based design tools with custom manufacturing tools to create a custom manufacturing company initially focusing on costume jewelry for teenage girls.
This year’s finalists in the college-level Student Track are:
• CHMR Solutions and lead applicant Colin Keogh, a student at Brown, for a service-based company removing heavy metals from brownfields sites using a system developed by Brown Prof. Joseph Calo.
• Digital Wingman and lead applicant Jake Powers, another Brown student, for integrating high-definition 3-D floor plans with e-commerce in a system enabling customers to create personalized scale renderings of work and living spaces.
• Siren Medical and lead applicant Mark Drew, a student at Rhode Island School of Design, for developing a low-cost technology for preserving living human tissue, such as amputated limbs being transported from an accident site to a surgical facility.
All six finalists – plus the winner in a new high school track – will make brief presentations of their business plans at the R.I. Convention Center on Tuesday, during the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce’s 2008 Business Expo. (READ MORE) The announcement of the winner will follow.
Lead sponsors of this year’s competition include Hinkley, Allen & Snyder LLP; Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd.; Seyfarth Shaw; Shazamm; Brown University; Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP; Embolden Design; and Nortek Inc.
Additional support comes from the Brown Forum for Enterprise, Business Development Company of Rhode Island, Cherrystone Angel Group, CVS Caremark Corp., Federal Electronics Inc., the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, Johnson & Wales University, Point Judith Capital, the Providence Business News, the Rhode Island Commodores, the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, the Slater Technology Fund, Bryant University, Citizens Bank of Rhode Island, Item Group, Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc., Heartlab/Agfa, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), the RDW Group, the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants, Salve Regina University, Smith Barney, Software Quality Associates, The Employers Association, The Mergis Group, the University of Rhode Island and Webster Bank
Additional information on the 2008 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition – including contest rules and guidelines, application procedures and business-planning resources – is available at www.ri-bizplan.com.

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