The Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest (GLEQ) hosted its Statewide Business Plan Competition Award Ceremony on Thursday, June 12, 2008 with partner organizations Automation Alley, NextEnergy, and Southwest Michigan First at the James B. Henry Center on the Michigan State University campus. The event was sponsored by Spartan Ventures and Dickinson Wright PLLC.

The GLEQ $25,000 Grand Prize in the Emerging Company category was awarded to OcuSciences, Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan. OcuSciences was co-founded by Drs. Victor Elner and Howard Petty from the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center and has developed a rapid and unique non-invasive imagining technique to detect retinal diseases earlier than current methods. The OcuSciences plan was pitched by Matthew Field.

The Runner Up award of $5,000 in the Emerging Company category was captured by DevHive of Livonia, Michigan. DevHive is building a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for custom business applications. Mike Burba presented the elevator pitch.

In the New Business Idea category, 3D Biomatrix received the First Place cash award of $5,000 and Dusoto.com was awarded the Runner Up award of $1,000. 3D Biomatrix offers a novel drug discovery platform that allows standardized ex-vivo replication of human tissues with high reproducibility that increases the efficiency of present drug discovery processes. Dusoto.com is an online provider of nightlife information and related travel services to Americans abroad. Both companies are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Belleville, Michigan-based OPS Solutions, LLC, was the recipient of the Automation Alley Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Award of $12,500. OPS Solutions developed the Light Guide System to aid manufacturers in manual assembly procedures and in off-line training areas. LGS projects lighted work instructions, symbols, blueprints, and videos directly on work surfaces to guide operators through the entire assembly cycle. Danielle DeLonge of Automation Alley- sponsored ConnecTech presented the award to OPS Solutions director of sales Jim Ryznar.

NextEnergy presented the Alternative Energy Innovation Award to FlexSys, Inc. Dan Radomski, Director of Industry Services for NextEnergy; presented the $12,500 award to Dr. Shridhar Kota, founder of FlexSys. FlexSys is developing adaptive blades for the wind turbine industry that capture wind more efficiently across all operating conditions and reduce structural loads when wind gusts are high.

The top five teams competing for the GLEQ Grand Prize pitched their plans to a panel of investment judges headed by Jack Ahrens, partner at TGap Ventures. Judges included Christine Gibbons, SC Holdings; Michael Raymond, Dickinson Wright; James Lynch, Spartan Ventures; Ron Reed, Seneca Partners; and Jack Miner, BC Ventures.

Presentation scores were added to scores on the companies’ written business plans to determine the overall winners. Finalists in addition to winning companies OcuSciences and DevHive, included BioLumix, OPS Solutions, and SkinTreet. Kevin Suboski, Executive Advisor, Suboski and Company, was awarded Coach of the Year for his work with two of the Emerging Company finalists, BioLumix and SkinTreet.