Presented by Kent J. Thiry, DaVita’s Chairman and CEO Kent Thiry, Chairman and CEO of DaVita, spoke at the Business School’s inaugural CEO Briefing about DaVita’s remarkable turnaround from a nearly bankrupt provider of dialysis services to its position today as a $6 billion leader in kidney care. When Thiry joined DaVita in 1999, the company was under investigation by the SEC.  Read more

First Place: OLOMOMO NUT COMPANY Justin Perkins, Peter Genuardi

Olomomo Nut Company aspires to be the foremost high-end, all natural and organic nut brand with its kettle-roasted nuts, coated with original and unexpected exotic spices and flavor blends. Olomomo will initially distribute through specialty coffee shops across America to conscious consumers who crave quality, delicious, high-protein, socially responsible products.  Read more

1st Place: DEVELOPING MINDS SOFTWARE, Dawn & Mason Gregg, Michael Erskine, Colette Hanley, Lynn Sargent

Developing Minds Software offers unique web-based software services designed to address the needs of families and educational institutions challenged with serving the developmentally disabled. Their product, DDtrac, is a Web 2.0 application that allows for the efficient capture and analysis of special education data.  Read more

First Place: Apex Design, Nate Algoe, Jason Osaki, & Scott Thomas

Apex Design, PC is a transportation engineering consulting firm. The firm provides services to the Intelligent Transportation Systems market. Their customers include public sector transportation agencies, private industry developers and other consulting firms.

Second Place: Dizgo, Jeffrey Kohn, Tomas Kaplan, Jeff Cahoon

Dizgo provides a novel form of mobile-based advertising for brick and mortar retailers.  Read more

First Place: Tensegrity Prosthetics, Jerome Rifkin

Tensegrity Prosthetics, Inc. has created the first major technological advancement for prosthetic feet in the past 25 years. The company will initially manufacture the product while it builds a distribution network through prosthetists and distributors. Tensegrity has created a working prototype of its first product, called “The Liberator,” which incorporates information that details the complex workings of the human foot.  Read more

First Place and Best Nonprofit Award: Journey of Life Meetinghouse
Team Leader: Tiffany Espinosa

Journey of Life Meetinghouse (JLM) is a nonprofit enrichment, activity and care center for seniors who would like to be involved in a safe, supportive community. The JLM works with clients who are functionally healthy and who either live on their own or with family members by providing daily transportation to the facility for full-service clinic needs, educational seminars, social activities, meals, and more.  Read more