2023 Business Capstone Presentations
Thursday, April 20, 2023, marked the end of a rigorous program for 12 Maranatha Business majors or minors. For three hours, family and friends gathered to hear the presentations of three business teams that have created companies with the intent of understanding how to start and run a business.
Taking the business concepts they have learned over their four years at Maranatha, these teams presented their products before a review panel of Maranatha Business Department Faculty, Steve Board (Assistant Professor), Dr. Tracy Foster (Professor and Dean), and Dr. Jeffrey Drost (Professor). In addition to the Maranatha faculty, local business professionals—Richard Kennington (CEO of Watertown Regional Medical Center), David Schrader (owner of Thermo Tech), and Chad Cape (Badger Business Development)—joined in the capstone proceedings.
Dr. Foster remarked, “The capstone is the culmination of the Business students’ course of study, requiring them to identify a business opportunity in the market, form a team, and then develop the idea into a detailed feasible business plan in the form of a portfolio and presentation.” These Business students endured an extensive journey to get to their presentations. A voting process chose the leaders, and each student was given a specific role within the team, such as project manager, finance, operations, human resources, marketing, and technology.
Carry Medical Accessories
The first team, Nathaniel Price, Foster Fredrickson, Josh Davis, and Alex Rodriguez, kicked off this year’s Business Capstone proceedings. Price, team leader and financial manager for Carry Medical Accessories, and his team’s company sought to improve the quality of life for people with severe allergies that require them to have some form of allergy medication with them at all times. Their goal was to combat bullying that occurs with the current bulky carriers for medical devices and to eradicate the deaths that occur each year due to someone not having their medical device on them in an easy and concealed way. Price and team present the Q-clip that clips to and is hidden on the inside of a waistband. Through a presentation detailing their company and an intense Q&A by the review panel, Carry Medical Accessories pulled ahead with a passing score.
Starvue AV Solutions
The second team addressed an issue that became more prevalent today as the use of technology for work has increased. Have you ever had technical difficulties before an online meeting and either been late or missed the meeting entirely? Starvue AV Solutions, led by Tim Davis and run by Joshua Wright, Benjamin Mason, and Joshua Licht, has discovered a solution. This company seeks to resolve technical issues during online meetings with their meeting rooms. Their Huddle, Conference, and Board rooms include all the working equipment needed for a successful virtual meeting. For this company, customer support is integral. Their team is always available to assist should any concerns arise. They also provide a subscription support agreement that runs in the background of the meeting to detect problems before they happen and remotely fix the issues. With a detailed presentation and ready answers for the review panel, Starvue AV Solutions passed the panel’s challenging questions.
Complete Cabins
The third and final group presented a growing problem that cabin owners face. Matthew Schehr, Sophia Turner, Michal Wagner, Liberty Bailey, and Michael Carruthers created Complete Cabins. This company, led by Matthew Schehr, sought to provide cabin owners with the assistance necessary to keep their cabins in working order. A negative side of cabin ownership is unexpected problems that occur and the extensive travel it takes to keep every cabin in order. Complete Cabins provides listing, guest, and property management and cleaning services to help take pressure off of the cabin owners and help maintain their livelihood. Delivering a strong presentation, Matthew Schehr led the team to success.
Price remarked, “The benefit of the capstone process is working with your classmates on a very practical project, and having that subjugated to strict judgment and very good feedback from Business professors and people from the community. That’s very unique for a school project.”
The Business Capstone is a valuable step for a Business student. It introduces them to real-world scenarios and helps them think critically and put into practice what they have been taught here at Maranatha. These teams are sure to benefit from this process and carry what they have learned into their future careers.
To view more photos from the Business capstone presentations, click here.