to help ease the often-cumbersome
process of verifying students’
immunization records. Hallett Ogburn
and Jim Wills founded Med+Pass
Health, LLC as an IT health care startup
that automates and digitizes the
collection and verification of medical
data for university students. The product
launched successfully at Auburn
University at the beginning of this
year. The team is working to expand its
product to the K- 12 market as well.
While entrepreneurship was being
celebrated all across the nation,
Culverhouse joined in with a host of
events here at home. The College hosted
the Entrepreneurs Speaker Forum,
a presentation on entrepreneurship
careers at Bidgood Hall, and a final
presentation entitled “Developing Your
Pitch” at Tuscaloosa’s The Edge.
As competition is par for the course
for business students, the Culverhouse
Edward K. Aldag, Jr. Business Plan
Competition drew teams of students
together to compete for the best product
ideas. The competition, in its second
year, is aimed at encouraging students
to start their own businesses. The three
winning teams included Dash Cam, a
360-degree dashboard camera that can
be used on law enforcement vehicles to
record full view rather than the current
front only view; InstaSplint, a medical
point of injury splint aimed at military,
relief and sports groups; and Soap N Go,
a unique soap formula impregnated onto
a single-use woven cloth that can be
activated with water anytime, anywhere.
The three teams were selected
from a group of 10 semi-finalists. They
received a full year of co-working space
at The Edge, along with free legal
consulting and mentoring.
“This competition is exciting
because it sparks creative ideas for
businesses that will fuel the local and
state economy,” says Tommie Syx,
coordinator for the Aldag Business Plan
Competition.
One of Culverhouse’s alumni, John
Cassimus, brought Mediterranean
zest to more than 130 locations when
he founded Zoës Kitchen in 1995.
After his huge success, he sold the
Zoës restaurants and went on to
open Maki Fresh—a casual Asian
dining destination—and Jinsei Sushi.
Cassimus opened locations for both new
restaurants during the past year and
is continuing to expand throughout the
Southeast. Expansion isn’t his only goal,
however. The 1990 UA grad is planning
to open an entirely new restaurant
called Sawtooth Cookhouse in Mountain
Brook, Alabama. The restaurant will
be a fast-casual dining location,
specializing in freshly prepared foods
and speedy service. Cassimus currently
serves on the Board of the Alabama
Entrepreneurship Institute at UA and
passionately motivates students he
meets to never let the dream of starting
their own companies escape them.
There’s been a lot of focus on
startups this past year, but each serves
its own special purpose, according to
STEM Path to the MBA Director Rob
Morgan. While Startup Weekend focuses
on getting the community excited about
entrepreneurship and bringing together
like-minded people, Crimson Startup is
geared more towards those who already
have a background in business.
“The focus of Crimson Startup is
taking groups of students and faculty
that already have a good idea of the
business concept they’re interested in,
and then testing to see whether it has
legs and if customers would value it,”
Morgan says.
Now in its third year, the program
draws about 25 to 30 participants and
is driven by faculty members who
have been trained at the University
of California, Berkeley. It is part of
an initiative by the National Science
Foundation’s iCorps program aimed at
getting more inventions out of university
labs and into the marketplace.
Whether it’s learning to pitch an
idea to investors or teaching a newborn
business how to walk, students are
getting the tools and experience they
need to succeed. There’s no denying
that entrepreneurship is alive and
well at the Culverhouse College of
Commerce.
“IT WAS INSPIRING TO SEE
CONFIRMED THE FACT THAT
I CAN CREATE A BUSINESS
AROUND WHAT I LOVE AND
HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AND
REWARDING CAREER.”
—Melissa Jenkins
