San Diego State University MBA Students Win Top Prize at
17th Annual Venture Challenge Business Plan Competition

Contact: Randy Carmical, Director of Communications
(619) 594-0206 Randy.Carmical@sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO (Wednesday, April 05, 2006) — A San Diego State University student team won the $15,000 first prize in the 17th Annual Venture Challenge this March. Additionally, the MBA student team won the $1,000 Golden Phone Award and the $500 prize as runner-up for the Social Innovation Award.

This is the third time in the history of Venture Challenge that SDSU’s team has won and the first time since 1999. SDSU’s team, Envirobinz, is an advertising company that aims to help communities and cities divert waste from landfills by providing aesthetic recycling receptacles installed at high pedestrian traffic locations.

Team coach Harvey Goodfriend thinks these students have the entrepreneurial spirit to lead them to real world success. “I’ve been coaching teams for seven years now and this is the most outstanding one. Envirobinz is not a concept; they already have several important acquisitions. In fact, they already have several other businesses underway.”

Currently, the team has a contract with National City, where their receptacles have helped increase recycling in the city by 30 percent, and the company is in negotiations with the city of San Diego. For more information on Envirobinz, please visit www.envirobinz.com. The team will participate in additional business plan competitions, including the Global Moot Corp 2006 Competition, the first and largest such event in the country, hosted by the University of Texas at Austin May 3-6.

“Winning is a great thing,” said Prabakar Mahalingam, President and CEO of Envirobinz and a student in SDSU’s MBA program. “However, the bigger prize in the competition is finding investors, as well as receiving feedback from judges.”

This year’s Venture Challenge, organized by SDSU’s Entrepreneurial Management Center, took place March 23-24 in Mission Valley. 20 teams competed in this year’s event, including students from University of California, San Diego’s Rady School of Management, who placed second in their first attempt at the competition.

“SDSU’s Entrepreneurial Management Center has been the biggest asset in my MBA career,” Mahalingam said. “Their staff has been very supportive in helping us in our business plan and providing valuable feedback. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do this.”

About the SDSU Entrepreneurial Management Center (EMC)
San Diego State University’s EMC is dedicated to providing the regional entrepreneurial community with tools and skills necessary for venture creation and growth. The privately-funded center promotes better knowledge and understanding of the entrepreneurial process through experiential learning. For more information, please visit www.sdsu.edu/emc.

About the College of Business Administration
With over 5,700 students, the SDSU College of Business is one of the largest business schools in the U.S. Its programs in undergraduate international business and graduate entrepreneurship are ranked among the top programs in the country by U.S. News and World Report. This year, the college is celebrating “50 Years of Educating San Diego’s Business Leaders.” For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu/business.

About SDSU
SDSU is the oldest and largest institution of higher education in the San Diego region. Founded in 1897, SDSU offers bachelor’s degrees in 81 areas, master’s degrees in 72 and doctorates in 16. SDSU’s more than 33,000 students participate in academic curricula distinguished by direct faculty contact and an increasingly international emphasis that prepares them for a global future. For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu.