Bayliner Boats - The Edson Programs Awards

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Hi gang, Rick Ostler here bringing you Bayliner Boats along with news and views from the boating industry. The Edson awards $200,000 to companies designed by students.

Edson Program Awards $200,000. to young entrepreneurs

Sixteen fledgling businesses operated by Arizona State University students have received a total of $200,000 in grants from the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative to help them become established. The student-owned enterprises will receive between $2,000 and $20,000 each in seed capital and will be provided office space at SkySong, ASU’s innovation center at McDowell and Scottsdale roads in Scottsdale.

Nearly 150 student entrepreneurs applied for funding this year. Winners were chosen based on an initial application process and a live presentation to a panel of seven judges.

“The presentations and business plans from the top groups were quite impressive,” said Dan Clarke, president of Specialty Retail Shops, an e-commerce company, who was one of the seven judges.

The winning ventures ranged from an online cheerleading community to a shop that manufactures high-performance skateboard components.

Edson Program by Orin Edson, founder of Bayliner Boats

The Edson program was created four years ago from a $5.4 million endowment presented to the university by Orin Edson, founder of Bayliner boats, who wanted to encourage student entrepreneurs.

The program doesn’t provide class credit, and all businesses are run in the student’s free time.
Several ventures that received funding in the past have continued in business after the students left the university, said Terree Wasley, director of innovation and entrepreneurship at SkySong.

Edson Program Success Stories

“One of our second-year companies has moved into their own commercial space and hired employees,” she said. “Another nonprofit leases its own space. Some have found out they didn’t have a market for their products. But the main point is the learning experience for the students.” Thanks to Ed Taylor, www.eastvalleytribune.com for this.

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Rick Ostler, North American Waterway