Release Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2003

TERRY COLLEGE MBA TEAMS SWEEP TOP TWO SPOTS IN GEORGIA BOWL BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

ATHENS, Ga. — For the second year in a row, two teams of Terry College MBA students finished first and second in the annual Georgia Bowl Business Plan Competition, held February 1 at Kennesaw State University.

International Cash Connections and Carepoint Professional Employees topped teams from other business schools, including Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University, the University of Houston, the University of Louisville and Rice University.

The annual competition pits business plans formulated by the students and their advisers against other new venture ideas. A panel of judges from Georgia's venture capital and financial community determines which plan has the best chance to succeed and turn profitable.

The first-place International Cash Connections team of Frank Marley, Jr., Luis Imery, Chris Griggs, and Michael Buckley developed a plan to market and sell CasaLink, a prepaid international cash remittance card targeted at first-generation immigrants through Hispanic grocery stores located throughout Georgia and North Florida.

ICC believes CasaLink will provide a safer, quicker and more convenient way for these populations to send money home than any other remittance service operating in the market today, a market which currently generates an estimated $3.6 billion in revenues annually. The MBAs on the ICC team say this market, combined with an explosive population growth rate for U.S. Hispanics, makes their plan an especially attractive venture with potential for expansion throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Finishing second at the Georgia Bowl was Carepoint Professional Employees, helmed by team members Ken Kaufman, Jeff Mullins and Tina Manwiller. CarePoint's goal is to become the Professional Employee Organization (PEO) for small to medium-sized health clinics and doctor's offices throughout Georgia, with plans to eventually expand regionally and nationally.

As PEO, CarePoint would serve as administrative employer of record for these small offices and practices, handling the payroll, insurance, social security, regulatory and other administrative needs of its clients, allowing them to focus on serving the needs of their patients more effectively. Recent census figures estimated the annual payroll of CarePoint's target market to be about $1.2 billion in Georgia alone.

The Georgia Bowl is the nation's oldest regional business plan competition, founded by Terry College management professor Charles Hofer 11 years ago. Originally, only teams representing MBA programs in the state of Georgia were invited to compete, but the contest has expanded to include teams from universities throughout the Southeast.

Hofer, who advises the Terry College teams, said each team competing in the Georgia Bowl presents its plan for starting a new business venture to a panel of six judges. Judges evaluate the plans for feasibility, long-term potential, management team capabilities, risks vs. rewards for investors, the quality of the written business plan, and the effectiveness of the verbal presentation of that plan.

"We are obviously extremely excited and proud of our teams' performances," said Hofer, the Regents Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Terry College. "However, the real win will occur when both teams are able to convert their plans into actual, real-world, operating businesses."

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