Business plan winners announced

Gonzaga University undergraduate and graduate students swept the 10th Annual Business Plan Competition Tuesday.

A team led by Stratton Shook won the $7,500 Telect Entrepreneurial Venture Award for Community-Based business. The team developed a plan for Good Greetings LLC, an online greeting card company co-founded by Tom and Rene Bross.

The company, which produces cards on 100 percent recycled paper, has attracted customers from outside the Inland Northwest, Shook said, adding ” A win in this category allows the company to get its name out and be recognized within the Spokane community.”

The $7,500 Avista Social Impact Award went to Tracey Waring, a masters of business administration student at Gonzaga and Eastern Washington University.

The win in the Social Enterprise category was the second for Waring, who proposed a non-profit Hospitality House where people and resources could be connected.

A Gonzaga freshman, Jordan Lehrman, won the $10,000 Itron Knowledge to Shape Your Future Award that goes to Student-Based businesses.

He proposed Rent-A-Bike, which would lease bicycles to university students. He said he wants to launch the business at Gonzaga in the fall.

The winners were selected from 47 entries submitted by students from Gonzaga and EWU, as well as Washington State University, Whitworth University, and Spokane Community College.

Total prize money was boosted to $42,000 with $20,000 from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation.