The fourth annual Fowler Business Concept Challenge both commenced and consummated [last Friday], with Aaron Engler’s ‘Coach app’ coming in at first place on the graduate level, earning the MBA student a $10k scholarship award.
Described as a “the restaurant managers playbook,” Engler’s idea is to provide chain restaurants with a mobile business intelligence system that aggregates all the pertinent information they need to know to optimize their venue — POS, labor, sales, product spec, service times, etc.
“I’ve worked in the restaurant industry forever and there’s a big opportunity to improve the managers experience though a mobile dashboard,” Engler said. “Today has been really eye opening and exciting for me as a student. I appreciate the spirit of this competition, my peers who participated and the judges who volunteered their time.”
SmartPark, led by David Berglund, came in second place, which aspires to create a mobile marketplace for open parking spaces. Notable placers on the undergraduate level include Dennis Gisch, Jacob Rocheford, Benjamin Bloomquist from ConnectTherapy as well as Joe Famalette with OneMusicPortal.
“This competition fundamentally changes the way that students think,” said Jay Ebben, UST Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship. “Onward and upward,” added Ron Fowler.
This post is by Jeff Pesek / TECHdotMN Co-founder and originally appeared there.
