Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest Announces Five Finalists to Pitch for $25,000 Business Plan Competition Grand Prize

Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest Announces Five Finalists to Pitch for $25,000 Business Plan Competition Grand Prize

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Five companies competing in the Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest (GLEQ) business plan competition will pitch their companies to a panel of five judges in the Grand Prize Ceremony on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 starting at 4:30 pm at Automation Alley in Troy, MI.

The finalist achieved the top five overall scores based on their 12-page business plan and participation in the GLEQ business training and coaching program over the past 5 months. Investor pitches scores will be added determine the Grand Prize winner and runner-up.

   The finalists are:    1. B.A. Maze, Inc.: Robert Mazur - Entrepreneur - Canton, MI       GLEQ Coaches: Donald H. Baker, Jr. - Safford & Baker, PLLC & Mark Young      - Western Creative, Inc.       B.A.Maze, Inc. invents, trademarks, and distributes innovative products      that positively impact quality-of-life and independent living issues.      With intellectual property and the implementation of unique consumer      products, the company will be the leader in consumer products for      independent living.    2. Blizzard Boost Corporation : Mark Schwartz - Entrepreneur - Livonia, MI       GLEQ Coach: John Weber       Blizzard Boost Corporation is the manufacturer of a patented engine      performance enhancement system (BlizzardBooster) that significantly      improves engine performance through a unique combination of increased      boost pressure and induction air temperature conditioning.    3. KAK Enterprises : Dan Killeen - Entrepreneur - Farmington Hills, MI       GLEQ Coach: Gary Wagner       Utilizing GPS-enabled mobile devices, KAK's LocaKno product delivers      entertaining and educational information to travelers. Historical and      contemporary content is delivered in both text and audio format.    4. OtoMedicine : Peter Boxer - Entrepreneur - Ann Arbor, MI       GLEQ Coach: Elke Lipka       OtoMedicine's mission is to become the leading provider of medicines to      prevent, treat and cure hearing loss. AuraQuell(TM) is a proprietary      combination of antioxidants and a vasodilator can dramatically reduce      noise-induced hearing loss.    5. promo_VUZ :  Robert Suarez - Entrepreneur - Ann Arbor, MI       GLEQ Coach: Jan Genshiemer - Seracon, Inc.       promoVUZ will provide internet "Tools for Independence (SM)" that      enable the recording artist to control their music assets and retain      100% of their royalties. The web-enabled tools, enrich promotions,      simplify and track downloads and sales, and build a goldmine of      transaction data to predict industry trends.    The Investor Pitch Judges are:    - Terry Cross, Angel investor and founder of Windward Associates   - Pete Farner, Managing Director, TGap Ventures   - Judy M. Johncox, Director for Venture Development, Wayne State     University   - Mahendra Ransinghani, Senior Advisor, Plymouth Venture Partners.   - Robert Savage Founder, Savage Consulting   - Phil Tepley, Technology Team Coordinator, Michigan Small Business and     Technology Development Center   

Past grand prize winners include Rapid BioSense, SpiritShop, Adaptive Materials, Sensigen, TJ Pulse and Velcura. Five of this year's Michigan's 50 Companies to Watch are GLEQ alumni.

First place teams from the Emerging Company and New Business Idea paths will be recognized with cash awards of $25,000 and $5,000 respectively. In addition, each winning team will receive hours of valuable professional services. Runner-up teams in each category will be recognized with cash awards of $5,000 and $1,000 respectively. Also this year are two Innovation Awards sponsored and presented by NextEnergy and Automation Alley. The two new awards will be investments of up to $12,500 each in companies that are focused on alternative energy technology and advanced automotive manufacturing.

The keynote speaker will be the highly successful Michigan entrepreneur Robert Skandalaris. He is the founder, president and chief executive officer of Noble International Ltd., a NASDAQ manufacturer of automotive parts and heavy equipment and provider of logistic services. The Skandalaris Entrepreneurial Program provides valuable help with student-started companies. Under this program, the Olin School has more than doubled its student entrepreneurial opportunities.

All teams participating in the business plan competition receive written feedback from a minimum of three venture industry experts. Teams must be present at the event to win and to receive their plan feedback.

The program begins at 4:30 pm at Automation Alley in Troy, MI. All are welcome to attend, however, pre-registration at www.gleq.org is required for this free event. For details and directions or to learn more about the GLEQ, please visit www.gleq.org.

Source: GLEQ

CONTACT: Art DeMonte for GLEQ, +1-734-647-8951

Web site: http://www.gleq.org/

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Profile: International Entertainment