Story Published:
Apr 9, 2009 at 5:42 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Apr 9, 2009 at 6:21 PM CDT
Project Springboard Business Plan Competition is in its third year, and Thursday six team finalists, all Bradley students, present their business plans to a panel of judges.
The winners will get funding to start their business.
Among the contenders is Paws Giving Independence, a non–profit organization that trains dogs rescued from animal shelters to assist people with disabilities.
After the dogs are given temperament tests, they're matched with a foster family and trained to do anything from opening doors, to turning on lights.
"Foster homes are a volunteer from the community. Right now we have eight different foster homes that have dogs and they come to our weekly training classes. They house the dogs at their house and they work with them over the week and we teach them the skills past the basic obedience of the sits and stays...but also the light switches and retrieves," said Michelle Kosner with Paws Giving Independence.
Bradley Senior, Michelle Kosner, has trained dogs for 10 years and says they dog train rigorously for six months to a year before they're placed with a person with a disability and it's free of charge.
The Bradley team that wins the competition, sponsored by Alexis Khazzam, receives two hundred thousand dollars to jump–start their business.
Friday, Apr 10 at 1:19 AM David Kimball wrote ...
What a great idea! Business Plan competitions like this always bring out wonderful new ways of doing things! David www.createyourbusinessplan.com