The 2024 IDEAcorps MBA Consulting Challenge: An Exciting Community Connection
On Sunday March 10, the 2024 edition of the IDEAcorps MBA Consulting Challenge, presented by Dr. Bobby and Lori Kent Savoie, took place in Nunemaker Hall on Loyola University's campus, serving as the culminating event of two months of intense consulting work with local startups and over $30,000 in prizing awarded to MBA teams and startups alike.
From January through early March, nine MBA teams from across the country had worked with their paired local startup to develop robust scale-up strategies to help take their businesses to the next level. After the virtual consulting period, all nine teams converged on New Orleans for a pre-NOEW innovation experience, which toured the nearly 50 graduate-level students to innovation hot spots across our region. After visiting locations like NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, the Port of New Orleans, SCALE New Orleans, The BioInnovation Center, AOS Interiors, and The Shop, teams had the opportunity to pitch their scale-up strategies for top prizes at the final pitch competition.
This year's winners were Loyola Marymount University from Los Angeles, CA, along with their paired startup, Patch Princess. Students from LMU earned top marks from the judges at this year's competition. LMU students earned a cash prize of $5,000, and Patch Princess founder Janice Meredith earned $20,000 to apply toward the scale-up strategy that won the competition.
Two runners-up included The Manderson Graduate School of Business at The University of Alabama (with their paired startup Bloom Booking) and Loyola University New Orleans with their paired startup, Kinkz Hair Products. Runner-up MBA teams earned $1,500 each, and their paired startups each earned $2,000 to apply toward their scale-up strategies.
"The IDEAcorps MBA Consulting Challenge is an incredible program for students and startups alike, instilling the Jesuit mission of 'setting the world on fire' by working with an incredibly diverse group of founders to take their businesses to the next level," says Sam McCabe, program director at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development. "It's not always about changing the world, but changing processes and tweaking ideas to make an impact that can have an immense impact on that founder's business and the ecosystem as a whole. We're honored to get to work with such an incredible group of MBA students and founders this year, and we can't wait to do it again next year!"
This year's MBA teams and paired startups included:
Manderson Graduate School of Business at The University of Alabama + Bloom Booking
Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida + Ice Jack Beverage Chiller
Boler College of Business at John Carroll University + Ringleader Studios
Flores MBA Program at Louisiana State University + Bomb Ass Fro
Fred Kiesner Center and Entrepreneurship Program at Loyola Marymount University + Patch Princess
Loyola University New Orleans College of Business + Kinkz Hair Products
Southeastern Louisiana University College of Business + The Cosmetology Institute
Haslam College of Business at The University of Tennessee Knoxville + My Sports Dietitian
Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Tulane University + Frontline Gig
To learn more about IDEAcorps, click here or contact Sam McCabe, program director.