Contest rewards new firms' business plans
Suburban Journals
June 8, 2010
Three groups of entrepreneurs have been named the top winners in the 2010 St. Louis Regional Business Plan Competition.
The St. Louis County Economic Council, in partnership with Edward Jones, presented the winning businesses with monetary prizes and in-kind services based on their business plans.
The companies received prize money of $50,000 for first place, $30,000 for second and $20,000 for third place.
Several local firms, including Thompson Coburn, Carmody MacDonald, Fleishman-Hillard and Brighton Agency are donating legal, accounting and marketing services to the winners.
"The objective of the competition was to promote entrepreneurship and the development of startup and early-stage companies in the St. Louis region, and that is exactly what we accomplished," said County Executive Charlie A. Dooley.
The winners were selected from 225 businesses. They are:
First place - Ed Timm and Merle Symes of Mobius Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company. Mobius is in the process of gaining FDA approval for a sterile kit containing a drug used in ophthalmic surgery. The kit provides improved shelf life, dosing and sterility over the current usage.
Second place - David Chancellor, Daniel Chancellor and Ian Anderson of Climb So iLL. The indoor rock climbing company, south of downtown St. Louis, will have climbing walls that can accommodate a range of skill levels. The company will offer comprehensive instruction, classes and programs.
Third place - Robert, Naomi and Kristin Edmonds with Mindfull Games. The company creates games that address gaps in the existing educational game marketplace. Mindfull Games specifically targets the vocabulary for which teachers are held accountable on standardized tests and enhances word retrieval in older adults, including brain injury or stroke victims.
"We are enormously grateful to the Economic Council and Edward Jones for the much-needed capital at a time when receiving financing has become increasingly challenging," said Timm, president of Mobius Therapeutics. "This prize money will allow us to staff appropriately for our commercial launch. The donated services from Thompson Coburn, Rubin Brown and Fleishman-Hillard will help us execute our current round of financing, protect our intellectual property and publicize our accomplishments."
