The Nevada Sagebrush

Green energy and technology dominated the finalists’ plans in the sixth annual Governor’s Cup competition, as did teams from the University of Nevada, Reno, organizers and team members said.

Eleven teams from UNR will present business plans to judges Wednesday at the Atlantis Casino, with the chance of walking away with a first-place award of $20,000. They will compete against teams from three other Nevada universities and colleges for nearly $200,000 in total prize money. The majority of this year’s entries are focused on green energy.

The Governor’s Cup, co-sponsored by Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET) and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, encourages entrepreneurship and innovation in Nevada, organizers said. The Cup is divided into undergraduate, graduate and renewable-energy competitions, with first- and second-place teams from each moving on to a tri-state cup between Nevada, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Dave Archer, CEO of NCET, said the competition isn’t always based on green technologies, but changes in the market and the shifting of talent between university departments has brought green energy to the forefront.

“Green and clean energy lends itself to the competition well because it’s a burgeoning field right now,” Archer said. “This year there is a group of strong individuals in the engineering program. In 2008 it was a group from the journalism program.”

Of the six finalists from UNR, five modeled their business plans around renewable energy, Archer said. He said UNR and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas dominated the state competition in years past and continue to do so this year.

Emily Somerville, NCET’s senior marketing and events manager, said the majority of this year’s finalists are from UNR.  UNR finalists make up five of the six undergraduate teams, three of the six graduate teams, and five of the seven renewable energy finalists, she said.  The renewable energy competition is also known as the Lieutenant Governor’s cup.

Chase Houston, team leader of SolAir from UNR, said his team is developing a solar thermal air conditioning system that would take traditional air conditioning off the power grid between noon and 5 p.m. Compared with last year’s competition, he said, green energy has become a defining feature of the cup.

“Green energy is definitely important this year. Last year it wasn’t as big of a deal,” said Houston, a 23-year-old international business major. “I think it’s because of some of the initiatives Obama put in place. It’s become more popular with the public.”

Houston said the Governor’s Cup has been the most valuable experience of his college career.

“I’ve learned more writing this business plan than I have in all four years of college,” he said.

Cameron Howard and his team of three began considering the competition nearly a year ago. Howard, a 22-year-old chemical and metallurgical engineering student, said his team’s business model is based on turning waste paper into ethanol. His team is competing in both the undergraduate and renewable-energy cups.

The Governor’s Cup was a big factor in getting his team’s business model off the ground, Howard said.

“Without the competition this is probably something we would have never thought to do,” Howard said. “The competition really sparked all the effort and work we’ve put into this plan.”

John Feeney, team leader of Innovative Protection Systems, the undergraduate cup’s only finalist not to utilize renewable energy, said his team began business plan preparation less than three months ago and is happy to be competing with more experienced finalists. His team has engineered a mobile security device aimed at the student market.

Feeney said that being the sole non-green competitor will set the team’s plan apart from the rest and may eventually work to their advantage.

“We’re definitely the sore thumb that sticks out, but that might be a strength,” Feeney said. “You don’t know who the judges are. People might get tired of hearing about green energy all day.”

Don Weinland can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.

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