Past Recipients: March 2004
The Chambers Fund Committee made awards totaling $60,751 which were to be expended by June 30, 2005. The awards were in two broad categories:
Funds administered through the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Liberal Arts
The Center for Entrepreneurship and the Liberal Arts has been created at the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy through a major grant from the Kauffman Foundation and other funds. It is supporting a wide range of entrepreneurial activities for students across all schools and majors at the University. Chambers Fund monies supplementing these initiatives in the areas of the Internet and e-commerce are as follows:
Support provided for 2003-04:
$5000 to equip an Internet laboratory
$2500 to fund a new Internet/e-commerce venture idea contest.
$5000 for compensation for summer intern to research and develop the Internet/e-commerce initiative. (Some of this was to be spent in 2004-05.)
Support for 2004-05:
$3000 for a student symposium on new Internet ventures.
Support for 2004-05 that will be repeated in 2005-06 and 2006-07 ($25,500)
$5000 for continuing new Internet/e-commerce venture idea contest.
$7500 for instructional support for students.
$7500 for summer support to work on /in Internet ventures.
$2500 for hosting Internet company founders as guest speakers.
$2500 for student travel funds to investigate new Internet ideas.
$500 for maintaining Internet laboratory.
Start-up Funds for Student Companies
Both of these companies were headed by MBA students. The grants to them were to be spent in 2003-04 and 2004-05 and were administered by Dr. Stan Mandell of the Babcock School’s Angell Center for Entrepreneurship.
The Sandbox Learning Company -- $10,015 award
Amy Maguire and Desiree McClimon, two 2004 Wake Forest MBA graduates, founded Sandbox Learning (www.sandbox-learning.com), which is currently operating in the Babcock Deacon Incubator. The business develops teaching aids for developmentally challenged children. Their goal is to reach more parents to help more children. They hope to expand beyond developmental teaching aids this year. Maguire says that much of the material they sell is useful in teaching children without disabilities. Some is already being used for that purpose. Maguire wants to push the company to become an all-around learning company. Their efforts have won a number of awards, the latest being recognition as two of the 19 winners of the Business Journal’s Women in Business Awards.
Fuel Service Corporation -- $9736
The company was formed in the fall of 2003 by second year MBA students Tim Sheehan and Bill Watson. Its objective is to provide risk management and logistic service to small and medium size companies. Fuel Services will allow companies which have neither the size nor expertise to hedge their exposure to changes in fuel prices to eliminate fuel expense risks while allowing them to obtain stable cash flows for their businesses. The grant provides funds for the development of e-commerce sales tools to allow Fuel Services to better sell to and interact with their clients in two different mediums: an Internet presence and technology based sales tools which will be used at the customer’s place of business. The grant included $3668 for web site development and hosting, $4193 computer equipment, and $1875 for operating expenses.
(Note: A $1500 award for legal services for BuddyGopher, a student start-up company, was never used and is not reflected in the total awards total above.)
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