A group of NT students received a $10,000 prize from the NT Murphy Center after developing a business plan that will provide employment help for college students in Denton.

Jason Davis, Lampasas junior, Tamsi New, Comfort junior, and Adam Reese, Gotebo, Okla. senior, were awarded second place in the Shirley Murphy Business Plan Contest on Nov. 12 at a luncheon in Addison. George Foreman was the keynote speaker.

These NT students, with the help of Michael Glanton, an employee of SMB Technology Partners in Irving and a friend of Davis's, devised a plan for college students to find work that allows them to use their own skills and create their own schedules.

Students register on www.collegestudentneedswork.com and provide a list of their skills and areas of expertise. Denton residents can then search by ZIP code for students in their area that can help them with odd jobs around their homes or businesses.

The Web site began as Davis posted fliers with the site address on them to advertise his skills in landscape management. The site worked as advertising for his skills and brought prospective customers to him; he was then able to work at his own price and on his own time. "This could totally change the way students view higher education," Davis said.

The Web site provides examples of odd jobs Denton residents may need done, such as cleaning garages, mowing lawns, baby sitting, painting houses and many other skills and work students can provide.

According to Reese, who found out about the idea through his involvement in the NT Professional Leadership Program, for every NT student there are 14 Denton residents who could be potential customers.

The Web site, which is currently under construction, will cost students a fee of $8 a month. Sixty percent of the $8 per student revenue will go toward advertising the Web site through TV, radio and billboards, according to Davis.

"What I would like to see is [the students] spending $8 and making $80 that month," Davis said. The $8 fee will be waved for the first 300 students to register. The NT Shirley Murphy Business Plan Contest, sponsored by Wells Fargo and other local businesses, is open to all colleges and universities in Texas.

About 10 students and groups send in business ideas annually. Students are required to have a valid prototype of their idea and must be able to present a complete business plan, including financials.

Business plans are evaluated by preliminary judges who choose three finalists. The finalists give 20-minute presentations to final judges and are then given the $15,000 first place prize, a $10,000 second prize or a $5,000 third prize.

"Students can check back in January to find out specific dates for the next contest," said Joan Ackerson, executive officer of the Murphy Center.

Students can find applications for the contest at http://www.murphycenter.unt.edu.

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