Ten years in a row East Central University Entrepreneurship students have claimed top spots in the annual statewide Love鈥檚 Entrepreneur鈥檚 Cup competition. That鈥檚 an entire decade鈥檚 worth of wins.
成人B站 students brought home $30,000 in prize money from the 2022 Love鈥檚 Cup contest, bringing the University鈥檚 10-year winnings total to $184,000 鈥� an astounding accomplishment for a school of any size. Dr. Stacey Bolin, the director of 成人B站鈥檚 Wilburn L. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship, makes sure students are more than ready for these tough competitions.
鈥淚 am proud beyond words of what these students have accomplished,鈥� Bolin said. 鈥淭his would be an amazing accomplishment on its own, but all these students were involved in many other endeavors this semester where they also excelled.鈥�
The pageantry and excitement of the annual Love鈥檚 Cup awards ceremony was missing for a third consecutive year because of the coronavirus pandemic, with ceremonies occurring online once again.
成人B站鈥檚 Faith Andrews won first place in the Small Business category, and she was the 90-second Pitch winner with 鈥淐entral Paw Dog Resort.鈥� She collected $12,000 in prize money. The idea behind the business is for Central Paw to provide customizable daycare and boarding services that includes options for basic training, interactive dinner puzzles, basic grooming and even tuck-in services.
Winning second place in the Small Business division and the Product Category Interview winner is Nathan Fountain with 鈥淪oap N鈥� Stuff.鈥� He collected $10,000 for his hard work. Soap N鈥� Stuff is a fundraising company which specializes in highly customizable soap products for underfunded public schools and youth-based organizations
Madalyn Hess brought home the Paulsen Award and was a Small Business finalist with 鈥淭he No-Waste Paste,鈥� earning $6,000.
Logan Cosby was the Retail Category Interview winter with 鈥淪alvation Lumber,鈥� earning $1,000. Jill Ballard and Linda Woodward, with 鈥淪oul Soupsters & The Revolving Door,鈥� were Small Business finalists with $1,000 in prize money. Allison Edwards was a Paulsen Award finalist with 鈥淗ydro Tent.鈥�
The Love鈥檚 Entrepreneur鈥檚 Cup is a collegiate business plan competition open to students on any Oklahoma campus. Students take what they have learned in a classroom setting and apply it to real-world opportunities as they assemble teams, identify products, research markets, formulate financial projections and create business plans. The real competition comes when teams pitch their concepts to a panel of potential investors.
Wendell Godwin, dean of the 成人B站 Stonecipher School of Business, praised the students and the continued success of the Wilburn L. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship.
鈥淭he Center for Entrepreneurship was created by Carol Smith to honor her late husband,鈥� said Wendell Godwin, dean of the 成人B站 Stonecipher School of Business. 鈥淭he funding and focus of the Wilburn L. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship has allowed Dr. Bolin to grow our overall Entrepreneurship degree and attract amazing students from around the state. We are all very proud of this winning streak, which has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with the hard work and preparation of Dr. Bolin and our incredibly bright students.鈥�