{"id":14009,"date":"2023-08-01T01:40:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/?p=14009"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:31:11","slug":"bpc-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/2023\/08\/01\/bpc-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Plan Competition: Innovation for Social Good"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Central Solutions Group pitch their concept for meeting non-emergency medical transportation needs.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Solutions to some of the most pressing business and social concerns of today and tomorrow are developed by WSU business students who may not have even reached their 22nd birthday. For 20 years, the Carson College of Business has hosted an annual Business Plan Competition<\/a> that gives students opportunity to showcase an entrepreneurial idea, practice business in a real-world setting, and learn directly from industry professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students work individually or in teams with Marie Mayes<\/a>, director of the WSU Center for Entrepreneurship<\/a>, to prepare to compete in open, collegiate, and high school leagues for cash and in-kind prizes. More than 120 entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders join virtually and in person to judge the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s competition was the largest and most diverse in WSU\u2019s history. The unique teams represented a wide variety of academic majors and programs of study as well as genders, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInterest in, and access to, entrepreneurial learning is growing at WSU and throughout our region. That is clearly evident by the diversity represented in this year\u2019s venture teams and their business ideas,\u201d Mayes says. \u201cThis growth is building a future workforce from our region that will be prepared to bring innovative solutions for social good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the highest award-winning ideas presented by the student venture teams included websites and apps for improving campus safety, foster care resources, and business efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U-Shield mobile app increases safety and security on campus<\/h2>\n\n\n
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U-Shield app founders\u00a0<\/em>Aline Uwase<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Junhui Zhang<\/a>\u00a0present their work.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Most campuses have generic safety-focused mobile apps, but they aren\u2019t specifically designed for college students, according to U-Shield app founders Libby Hults<\/a>, Xuanfu Huang, Aline Uwase<\/a>, Junhui Zhang<\/a>, and Wanting Wu, WSU students who won the $4,000 fourth place prize and the Herbert B. Jones Merit Prize for Best Social Impact Business at this year\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in idyllic small towns like Pullman, university students struggle to feel safe. While preparing for the competition, the team was guided by 2021 research<\/a> that reported 82 percent of American college students felt concerned about personal safety, with more than half feeling very or extremely concerned, because they didn\u2019t know what resources to access or when to access them. Only 13 percent used campus prevention resources, and more than 55 percent admitted they don\u2019t ask friends for help for fear of being judged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough we created the app with women in mind due to sexual assault and violence statistics, the app is for all students,\u201d Hults says. “We designed it to be user-friendly to bridge the gap between students’ safety and institutionalized campus safety resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The app\u2019s features are driven by what survey responders identified as the highest safety needs, for example \u201csafe walk,\u201d a feature that allows users to send their location to a friend or family member who can watch them walk to a destination in real time. Emergency procedures and contacts, crime reporting, and a variety of mental health resources are also included. The app features an AI chatbot, a major selling point for Gen Z audiences who are used to communicating that way, Uwase says. \u201cUsers describe a problem, and the chatbot directs them to the appropriate resource.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team earned buy-in from the WSU Women\u2019s Center, Title IX program, and WSU Housing, who agreed to participate in launching the live app should the team decide to proceed with the venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CARE mobile app connects foster care youth to communities and resources<\/h2>\n\n\n
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CARE mobile app creators discuss their project with a judge.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

According to reports by the US Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 400,000 children entered foster care in the United States in 2021, with nearly 11,000 in Washington state. Mental and behavioral health is the largest unmet need for foster children and teens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statistics like these are what drew Jessica Sheets\u2019s attention when she began contemplating a project for the Business Plan Competition: \u201cI thought \u2018how can I use my resources, privilege, and knowledge to create a more livable space and experience for youth in the foster care system?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She found a path by connecting with fellow students Molly Jones<\/a>, Alex Stewart<\/a>, and Michael Ottesen<\/a>, all of whom expressed interest in the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team created Community and Resource Engagement for Foster Youth (CARE), a website and mobile app offering individuals under 18 in the Washington state foster care system free resources for crisis support, legal aid, court advocacy, counseling, and information about aging out of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many resources available in the foster care system, but no organizations currently offer an integrated, communal platform,\u201d Sheets says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team surveyed approximately 25 people who had experienced foster care and developed the platform\u2019s 15 categories of support resources. Their innovation captured the competition\u2019s $5,000 BECU Merit Prize in the Best FinTech category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was a passion project for me, and something I want to continue,\u201d Ottesen says. \u201cI can see CARE potentially expanding into more high-risk areas in California and perhaps beyond to improve foster care nationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Solutions Group creates business efficiency for transportation companies<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Central Solutions Group team members address questions during the trade show portion of the competition.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

According to AARP<\/a>, about 600,000 older adults stop driving each year, making it hard to make it to doctor appointments, run errands, or visit family\u2014known as \u201cnon-emergency medical transportation (NEMT)\u201d scenarios in the business industry. Besides seniors, other people who live in rural communities with limited access to public transit require alternative ways to get around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This situation creates a niche for NEMT development, something Emiliano De La Rosa<\/a> has been thinking about for four years. He\u2019s already had professional experience working full-time as an executive administrator and lead supervisor for NEMT companies in southern California. As an employee, De La Rosa discovered NEMT companies commonly outsource business operations, which can lead to disorganization and undue expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe high costs associated with outsourcing hinder transportation companies\u2019 ability to reinvest in the business,\u201d he says. \u201cFor some time, I had the idea to create a comprehensive platform that reduces expenses by centralizing crucial business processes into one website and mobile app.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He decided to develop an entrepreneurial concept for the Business Plan Competition. To prepare, he found four team members who shared his entrepreneurial spirit: Cole Garner<\/a>, Angel Arteaga<\/a>, Hunter Escorcia<\/a>, and Priscilla Meza<\/a>. Together, they developed the concept for Central Solutions Group (CSG) to help NEMT providers reduce business operation costs by up to 20 percent.
“It was an amazing experience to work with thriving and passionate individuals,\u201d Meza says. \u201cI learned so much about the entrepreneurial process and the NEMT industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CSG administrative web platform allows NEMT providers to manage employees, payroll, vehicles, scheduling, billing and invoicing, files, data tracking, and communication all in one place. NEMT providers pay one small fee per trip versus additional fees for specific services, individual employees, and vehicles, as is common practice with NEMT competitors. The CSG mobile app is free to drivers, enabling them to relay live trip information back to their headquarters and access job records, daily tasks, their employee profile, and vehicle routes with just a few clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CSG team earned fifth place and $2,000 at the Business Plan Competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was amazing to learn so much from the NEMT industry as well as the process of making our platform come to life,\u201d Arteaga says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReceiving NEMT providers\u2019 interest and positive feedback when we interviewed them about our concept was very validating,\u201d De La Rosa says. \u201cI\u2019ve become a better leader and team player as a result of this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\tRead more about the 2023 Business Plan Competition results\t\t\t<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Business Plan Competition was the largest and most diverse in WSU\u2019s history. Unique teams represented a wide variety of academic majors and programs of study as well as genders, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds. \u201cThis growth is building a future workforce from our region that will be prepared to bring innovative solutions for social good,\u201d says Marie Mayes, director, WSU Center for Entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[628],"featured_media":18209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[614,553,425,428],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/628"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14009"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18566,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14009\/revisions\/18566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14009"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author?post=14009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}