P R E S S R E L E A S E
OPIC ANNOUNCES WINNER OF THIRD BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION
December 15, 2009, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Ontario Partnership for Innovation and Commercialization (OPIC) is pleased to announce the winner of the third OPIC Business Plan Competition. Hailey Coleman, a marketing major at Ryerson University, won the prize of $7,000 in a field of twenty-eight entrants with a plan entitled "Damn Heels". Damn Heels "introduces sexy, fold-up ballerina-style flats to save you from your (beloved) damn heels." Two judges from Maple Leaf Angels selected the winner from 6 finalists chosen by judges from Entrepreneurship and Youth Partnerships, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Connections Program of the Ontario Centres of Excellence.
Open to students, alumni and faculty from OPIC�s seven member universities*, the competition attracted plans from business sectors including medical devices, multimedia, tourism, fashion, and internet-based businesses.
The six finalists were (listed alphabetically by plan name):
- "7D Surgical Inc.", Dr. Victor Yang, Professor, Dr. Beau Standish, Post Doctoral Fellow, Ryerson University
- "Damn Heels", Hailey Coleman, Student, Ryerson University
- "fanfare recruiting services limited", Christopher Alleyne, Alumnus, Ryerson University
- "go to sheep", Dan Goldstein, Student, Ryerson University
- "NTFG Production" Qin (Yifei) Zhao, Student, Ryerson University
- "Rock Parlor", Jason Manara, Student, Ryerson University
OPIC has held two previous business plan competitions: Nov. 21, 2008 and May 14, 2009.
OPIC congratulates our winner, Hailey Coleman, and thanks our 4 judges. OPIC acknowledges all the participants from Lakehead University, Laurentian University and Ryerson University who worked so diligently to write and submit business plans. A special thanks to Ryerson�s SIFE student entrepreneur club for their assistance running the competition and helping to make OPIC�s business plan competition a continuing success.