HU students place in top three teams at regional business competition

HUNTINGTON, Ind. Three Huntington University placed with the top three teams at the I-69 Collegiate Innovation Challenge 2012 hosted by the Grant County Economic Growth Council on Feb. 10-12.

Those three business students were Rachel Osterholt, Doris Walker and Daniel Binkoski.

The regional business competition, held in Warsaw, Ind., challenged area college students to create a solution to a social problem scenario. The assignment for this year's competition asked students to create a for-profit business solution that helps address the current low college graduate retention rate in east central Indiana.

Rachel Osterholt, a junior accounting and business management major from Portland, Ind., represented HU on the first place team. She and her teammates created a company called BackBone Digital to address the collegiate brain drain from Indiana. The company would be staffed by Indiana college interns and graduates who are software engineer, and would hire out computer services, serve as a think tank incubator and provide mentorship and coaching to young professionals. Osterholt was awarded an iPad 2 for her team's business concept.

Doris Walker, a junior entrepreneurial small business management and business management double major from Kandern, Germany, represented HU on the second place team. They created a company to serve as a cultural development firm providing office design, corporate training and lifestyle counseling to companies hoping to attract Generation Y employees.

Daniel Binkoski, a junior entrepreneurial small business management major from Adrian, Mich., served on the third place team. His team created a business incubator called Creative Injection to specialize in attracting high-tech companies.

Will Barone, a senior entrepreneurial small business management major from Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada, and Matt Wilson, a senior business management major from Fort Wayne, Ind., also represented HU at the competition.