Miami University

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Miami University
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Miami students' prize-winning business plan paves way for product distribution

02/15/2012

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From left: Benjamin Rascoe, Miami faculty adviser Thomas Heuer, Ryan Dubro and Jeana DeNardo of JEC Eco-Fence. Photo provided by University of Cincinnati's Chuck Matthews.

written by Emily Glaser, news and public information intern

Three Miami University entrepreneurship students, who recently won first prize and $5,000 at a Cincinnati area undergraduate business plan competition, will see their award-winning plan put to work when their product hits the market this year.

Seniors Jeana Denardo, Benjamin Rascoe and Ryan Dubro from Miami’s Farmer School of Business bested eight other teams with their plan for a durable and eco-friendly construction fence that JDN Properties of Pittsburgh plans to release in the market this year.

The students worked with the construction company this fall testing the durability of the product, which was designed and patented by Denardo’s father. The students were awarded intellectual property rights to the product in 2011.

The students named the product Eco-Fencing, inspired by the product’s durability. The product is an alternative type of construction fencing that can be reused and is more cost efficient and eco-friendly.

The students began working on the product in August, along with group member Victoria Greco, a senior entrepreneurship minor, as a project for their entrepreneurship capstone course, taught by Tom Heuer, the Richard A. Forsythe Chair of Entrepreneurship.

Throughout fall semester, they formed a board of advisers and explored where they could take the product. They tested its durability with the construction company JND Properties.

Miami’s winning students took their product to the competition after being recognized as one of the top two business plans in their entrepreneurship capstone course.

“We were really excited. It was kind of a shock,” Denardo said. “We didn’t know we could win money or a trophy; we were doing it because we really enjoyed it. It was a lot of hard work though. So when we won, it showed our hard work actually comes to something. We realized people could see the opportunity in a market for it.”

The competition was held at Northern Kentucky University on Jan. 27 and included two other teams from Miami, as well as teams from Xavier University, Northern Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati. The judges were entrepreneurs from the Cincinnati area who had all either started companies or were venture capitalists for startup companies.