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James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2009 - Index

[Sustainable Business]
Sustainability
entrepreneur
takes CoB
top prize
College of Business launches
first Sustainable Business
Plan Competition
By Toni Mehling
First, 54 contestants
entered. Then there
were 12. The final
four presented their
plans to the public and a
panel of judges on April 20.
Amid photo flashes, TV crews,
cameras and a live audience, the
top contender was announced.
The Center for Entrepreneurship
in the College of
Business launched its first Sustainable
Business Plan Competition
this spring. The top
four venture teams pitched
their business plans for a
chance to win up to $50,000
and in-kind services.
Zachary Bortolot, JMU
integrated science and technology
professor, received top
honors for his business plan for
Optisilv LLC, a remote sensing
software for forest inventory
applications. Bortolot developed
the software that combines
digital aerial photographs and
a related technology known as
light detection and ranging with
College of Business Dean Bob
Reid congratulates ISAT professor
Zachary Bortolot for
taking the top prize in the first
CoB Sustainable Business Plan
Competition.
ground data to perform forest
inventories at a lower cost and
more accurately than traditional
techniques. Bortolot is co-owner
of the company with John Paul
McTague and Mark Milligan.
In March, the Center for
Entrepreneurship received 54
executive summaries during
the first round of competition.
Contenders represented
JMU students, faculty and staff
members, alumni, and entrepreneurs
from an eight-county
area in the Shenandoah Valley.
Submissions were evaluated to
identify the top 12, and then
the final four, based on the viability
of the business concept,
the strength of the sustainability
elements, the long-term
growth potential and the ability
to launch within one year.
While the top two presenters
— Optisilv and Eastern Bio-
Plastics — will receive funding
and services, such as accounting
and marketing assistance, to
support their startups, Robert
D. Reid, dean of the College of
Business, says all four finalists
were viable businesses.
2009 Earth Week
JMU’s celebration of 2009 Earth Week
included a Renewable Energy Fair, Festival
Fest (a day of music, crafts and
games on the Festival Lawn), an economic
panel discussion on sustainability,
the Really Really Free Market event, a
community bike ride and No Drive Day.
Bortolot’s product is based
on timberland management
processes whereby forest inventories
are routinely performed
to account for benefits (e.g.,
for carbon trading) and to
maximize the forests’ economic
‘These business proposals illustrate
the vibrant entrepreneurial spirit in
the JMU community and the
Shenandoah Valley.’
— Carol Hamilton, director of the Center for
Entrepreneurship and organizer of the Sustainable
Business Plan Competition
and environmental benefits.
Forests are a renewable source
of building materials and paper
products and remove large
quantities of carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere, placing it
in long-term storage.
“These business proposals
illustrate the vibrant entrepreneurial
spirit in the JMU
community and the Shenandoah
Valley,” says Carol
Hamilton, assistant director of
the Center for Entrepreneurship
and organizer of the Sustainable
Business Plan Competition.
“The business concepts
ranged from energy-efficient nt
design and social networks
to alternative
energy solutions.” M
✱ Learn more about the
competition and Bortolot’s
company at www.jmu.edu/
news/. Click under the Latest
Headlines section.
[Sustainability Studies]
Environmental
knowledge
Three new minor programs
offered this fall
Three new minors that
approach environmental
knowledge from
a variety of perspectives
will be offered beginning
this fall semester. Environmental
studies, environmental science
and environmental management
are cross-disciplinary minors
that are united by a common
capstone experience. The capstone
course, ENVT 400, will
bring students from different
minors together for a collaborative
research experience that is
both applied and theoretical. A
faculty team from two areas will
teach the capstone course, and
each offering of the capstone
will focus on a different environmental
theme or topic. Students
from any major can declare an
environment minor. M
✱ Learn more about at www.
jmu.edu/environment/.
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BORTOLOT PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX MACDONALD (’08); EARTH WEEK BY DAN GORIN (’11)
SUMMER 2009
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