Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Fourteen Mississippi State students are being recognized and rewarded for their creativity in developing online businesses.
Representing various majors in the university's College of Business--and two in the College of Architecture, Art and Design--they comprised four teams seeking to win $5,000 in startup capital through the 2009 E-Business Plan Competition.
A panel of off-campus professionals evaluated the content of each group's written plan and personal presentations. Winners were announced at the end of the spring semester.
"Morenglish," an English-language tutoring site for South Korean high school students, took first-place honors. It was created by freshman Kyung Min Lee, a Korean native residing in Starkville, and senior Scott Montgomery of Louisville. Lee is majoring in general business administration; Montgomery, in international business.
"Our two winners will launch their business this summer with the assistance of director Gerald Nelson and others at the Thad Cochran Endowment for Entrepreneurship office," said Rob Moore, one of the competition organizers.
Moore, an associate professor of marketing, said Montgomery and Lee also will be mentored in the process by Michael Allen of Starkville, founder and organizer of the Shopping-Bargains.org Web site.
The annual competition is a project of the business college's Cochran Center and the Services Innovation Group, a part of the department of marketing, quantitative analysis and business law.
Second place and $500 were awarded to "LitFix." A rental site for classic novels, it was created by seniors Krystina A. Cirilli of Madison; Andrew B. "Drew" Cole and Ben P. Williams, both of Starkville; and Abigail E. "Abby" Hoekstra of Cordova, Tenn. Cirilli is majoring in art/painting; Cole, Hoekstra and Williams, all in marketing.
Two teams tied for third place and $250. They included:
--"SECcollegelife," a textbook sales and swap site developed by seniors Patrick L. Bland of Belden; Paul E. Curtis of Carbondale, Ill.; Adam C. Kazery of Jackson; and Edgar L. "Sonny" Williams of Clinton. Bland is a general business administration and management double-major; Curtis, a marketing/professional golf management major; and Kazery and Williams, both majoring in business information systems.
--"Thebestcollegeforme," a site designed to match a student's personality with a potential college or university. Creators included junior Marci J. Clayton of Moscow, Tenn.; and seniors Charlotte R. Chandler of Madison, Randall Journeay of Brandon and John J. "Johnny" Stoops of Columbus. Clayton is majoring in art/graphic design; Chandler and Stoops, both in general business administration; and Journeay, marketing.
LOCAL EDITORS:
Additional hometown information . . .
First-place team: Montgomery is the son of Maggie Montgomery. [Lee's parents are not listed.]
Second-place team: Cirilli is the daughter of Barbara Tompkins of Madison and Michael Cirilli of Greenville; Cole, the son of Denny and Laura Cole; Hoekstra, the daughter of Philip and Linda Hoekstra; and Williams, the son of Glen and Nancy Williams.
Third-place team #1: Bland is the son of Roger and Martha Bland; Curtis, the son of Stanley and Leslie Curtis; Kazery, the son of Eyd and Debby Kazery; and Williams, the son of Raleigh and Ginger Williams.
Third-place team #2: Clayton, the daughter of Joseph and Mary Clayton; Chandler, the daughter of William and Wanda Chandler; Journeay, the daughter of Henry and Janie Journeay; and Stoops, the son of John and Rosa Stoops.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.