Mark
Rotert and John Parker Chandler IV with their company, Tornado
Aerodynamic Solutions, LLC took home both 1st place and the Best Agricultural
Plan award at this year’s CEO Business Plan Competition at SD Mines.
The fifth annual CEO
Business Plan Competition at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology wrapped
up in early December with new winners who took home more than $10,000 in total prize
money that can be used toward their business ideas. The competition is themed
after the popular television program “Shark Tank.” It challenges entrepreneurs
to present a business plan to a panel of expert judges.
Mark Rotert, John Parker Chandler IV with their company, “Tornado
Aerodynamic Solutions, LLC” took home 1st place and the $3000
award. The pair also won a separate
category for the best agricultural plan at this year’s competition, a $1000
prize.
Rotert and Chandler say their company’s
aim is to improve fuel economy via aerodynamics on automobiles and trucks with
a particular focus on agriculture. Tornado
Aerodynamic Solutions plans to start and grow through the sale of its
flagship product TwisTech. The product is a vortex generator that reduces drag
on cars and semis. The team found that this product can offer increases in
miles per-gallon on cars by up to 10 percent and trucks by 7 percent.
Joey Brown & his company AmmoNyte took home the 2nd
place award of $2000 and William Trevillyan & Kayla Kassa with their
company, MaintenanceMetrics took the 3rd place award for $1000. The top high school entry, Jade Parkin, took
home the $500 award for her business Butterstick.
The
competition is open to all West River high schools, as well as neighboring
higher education institutions Black Hills State University, Western Dakota
Tech, National American University and Chadron State College. Participants
in the SD Mines CEO Program attend on-campus business plan training throughout
the semester and receive assistance from the Small Business Development Center
in preparing financial statements, as well as mentoring from local business
leaders and SD
Mines’ Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.
Teams
who compete in the SD Mines CEO Program often take their business plans to
compete statewide at the South Dakota
Governor’s Giant Vision Awards. Mines students who have competed in
the CEO Competition have gone on to win the Governor’s
Giant Vision Award the last four years.
In
the past, student business plans have ranged from an intelligent wheelchair and
energy saving window films to guidance devices for the blind and subterranean
salt caverns for natural gas storage.
CEO Competition sponsors include Ascent Innovation, Big D
Oil, Golden West Technology and Internet Solutions, Regional Health, South
Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development, South Dakota School of Mines
& Technology, Darren Haar, Sioux Steel Company and West River Electric
Association.