A team of three UNLV students that created a business idea selling noise-activated, light up "Game Day" T-shirts and sports gear took home the grand prize at the Dominic Anthony Marrocco 2013 Southern Nevada Business Plan Competition.
The team received $65,000 in cash and prizes in the contest that asks budding entrepreneurs to bring their business ideas into fruition. The competition was created by the Center for Entrepreneurship at the UNLV Lee Business School and the Las Vegas Business Press.
The winning company, Sports Entertainment Gear (SEG), enthralled the judges with their growing line of shirts, hats, and noisemakers for college and professional teams worldwide. As crowds get louder, an electroluminescent panel lights up in response to a tiny amount of electricity. SEG includes UNLV students Travis Williams and Meghan McGaugh and UNLV alumnus Brian Harge.
With their win, SEG also received in-kind accounting services and office space. Already the team has licenses for UNLV, UNR and Michigan State. The team has participated in business plan competitions around the country and also has been in talks with licensing and marketing teams for professional sports leagues around the globe.
"The win allows up to scale up this summer to potentially 10 schools and may give us the opportunity to reach a licensing deal with university book stores," said Williams, who was guided through the process by Lee Business School professors and mentors who helped SEG refine its concept. "This is a huge opportunity for us."
Another team that received recognition at the business plan competition was CamSA Pharmaceuticals, a start up company that is researching, developing and commercializing the first and only preventative medicine for treating Clostridium Difficile, (C-Diff) one of the fastest growing epidemics in America. C-Diff spores can be contracted anytime a patient is in a hospital, nursing home, surgery center or other similar facility. The technology was developed by UNLV bioorganic chemist Ernesto Abel-Santos. CamSa will now receive automatic promotion to the finals in the 2014 contest.
