PNC Business Plan Competition Winners

WESTVILLE – Purdue University North Central hosted the recent Purdue University Opportunity for Indiana business plan competition, with Brogan Pharmaceuticals, a start up company developing drugs to improve the detection and staging of cancer in children, taking first place.

Brogan, which operates out of the Purdue Technology Center in Merrillville, will receive $25,000 from the competition, which attracted more than 100 entrants.

Second place and $15,000 went to Little Locks, Hair Cuts and Toys for Kids of Dyer; third place and $10,000 went to IT3 of Crown Point. Prize money for the first three places was provided through a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Fourth place and $3,000 went to Farm Direct Meat of St. John. Fifth Place, and $2,000, was awarded to higHDef.tv of Highland. Prize money for fourth and fifth place was donated by the law firm of Hoeppner, Wagner and Evans LLC of Merrillville and Valparaiso.

This is the second year of the competition, said Mark Hannon, PNC director of Career Development and one of event coordinators. The Northwest Indiana competition, a partnership between Purdue University North Central and Purdue University Calumet, attracted three times the number of entries as the competitions hosted by the Purdue West Lafayette campus and Purdue University in Fort Wayne. As a result , a number of Northwest Indiana were forwarded to their business plan competitions.

“We were impressed with the quality of the business plans submitted,” said Hannon. “This speaks well for the entrepreneurs in Northwest Indiana. We look forward to seeing these companies grow and prosper. These business ventures will enhance our area’s overall economic development and add to our employment possibilities.”

The business plan competition was part of a three-phase, three-year economic development program funded through a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Further information can be obtained by contacting Hannon at 800-9872-1231, ext. 5498.
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