2007 BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION FINALISTS HAVE BRIGHT FUTURES

Biofluidica Left to Right: Yohannes Desta, Mateusz Hupert, Wieslaw Stryjewski, Donald Patterson, David Claypool, and Steven Soper

In 2004, the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business and The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report joined forces to create the New Venture Business Plan Competition with a specific mission.

“We know that entrepreneurs are the key to new jobs and economic growth, and we wanted to help create something that made it happen,” The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report’s Publisher Rolfe McCollister said back then. 

Three competitions later, the two organizations are still working to entice entrepreneurs to present their ideas. This year, Biofluidica, a company proposing to develop a portable, on-the-scene DNA testing device, was selected as the winner of the competition. Its product will indeed be valuable to multiple agencies.

Biofluidica will receive $20,000 in services from local professional firms and will share an additional $20,000 with two finalists. The two other finalists in the competition were 3D-Lievable, a three-dimensional modeling company, and Digital Air, a company proposing to develop a device to help treat venous leg ulcers. Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry presented the winner with an engraved crystal plaque.

3D-Lievable Left to Right: Jimmy Williams, David Hebert, and Paulo Perkins

The competition drew 37 registrants, 20 of whom submitted plan summaries. Judges assessed each venture’s commercial potential, the team’s ability to secure funding, and the quality of the presentation. 
“Selecting a winner this year was difficult as all finalists were quality businesses that will have great opportunities for success,” LBTC Executive Director Charles D’Agostino said. “In the past three years, all winners and runner-up businesses did start their business successfully, which is a great testimony for the competition serving as an economic engine for our area.” 

3D-Lievable is a three-dimensional modeling company that caters to multiple industries that can benefit from three-dimensional printing, a service that is not yet publicly available locally. Through their products, 3D-Lievable allows clients to dissect potential problems early in the design process without wasting valuable resources.

The company’s chief executive officer is LSU fifth-year architecture student David Hebert. Paulo Perkins, a friend of Hebert’s who is also a fifth-year architecture student at LSU, serves as 3D-Lievable’s chief operating officer. Jimmy Williams is the company’s chief financial officer.

“Originally, I wanted to start this company because it is something that I love to do,” Hebert told The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. “Additionally, having worked in the architectural field for close to four years now, I have seen the increasing demand for the services we offer.”

Digital Air John Berges; Owner, CEO, and Head of Marketing

Digital Air, which finished third in the business plan competition, has developed an FDA-approved device to heal venous leg ulcers in approximately three-months’ time called AirPerfect. John Berges, owner, CEO, and head of marketing for Digital Air, proposed the idea after witnessing firsthand his godmother’s suffering with leg ulcers.

Using the device, which fits over the leg like a sleeve, patients force the old blood back to the heart so it can reintroduce oxidated blood and nutrients to heal venous leg ulcers. According to Berges, the device’s unique “calibrated gradient pneumatic sequential compression” can be adjusted to suit each patient as an individual.

Berges co-founded Digital Air along with Greg Fasullo, who serves as chief technical and manufacturing officer.

Once patients are healed, they continue on a maintenance program to keep the problem from reoccurring. Each device stores 500 therapies that can be reviewed in order to help ensure compliance and reduce Medicare fraud.

 To read The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report’s story about the business plan competition winner, visit http://www.businessreport.com/news/2007/oct/22/test-market-hlcr1/. The publication also has stories about 3D-Lievable, Digital Air, and other entrants.

The LBTC is part of the Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute, which is an integral part of the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business. For more information about the LBTC, or the business plan competition, visit www.bus.lsu.edu/centers/lbtc.