COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Birding Vietnam team members Elaine Franklin, Mai Thai and Tao Feng won the top prize in the 2003 UH Business Plan Competition last night.

Entrepreneurs win
start-up cash

Birdwatchers fly away with top prize

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Star-Bulletin staff

A plan for high-quality bird-watching tours to Vietnam won the top prize, and a check for $25,000, in the 2003 UH Business Plan Competition last night at the University of Hawaii. The would-be business, called Birding Vietnam, was based on research that shows bird-watchers are affluent world travelers.

The prize was donated by venture capital management firm Allegis Capital.

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Shawn Bonnell and Kevin Kelly of Integrated Energy Concepts took second place.

Second place, a $15,000 prize donated by former Pacific Century Financial Corp. Chairman Lawrence Johnson, went to Integrated Energy Concepts, which proposed a plant using local agricultural waste to produce power. And third prize, along with a $10,000 check donated by City Bank, went to Foreignspeak, an online language teaching system.

The business plan competition is organized by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship and E-Business at the UH College of Business. The contest began in January with 36 teams. They were first whittled to 16 and then five before the winners were chosen by a panels of judged last night based on live presentations of their completed business plans.

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Foreignspeak captured third for Cornell Miyasato, Carole Nagaji and Dan Hall.

Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship and E-Business