Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup

Another week, another competition.  cycleWood Solutions just finished up the Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup.  This competition is a little different from the others we've been to.  There were no spectators, just judges.  We had a longer amount of time for our presentation, 20 minutes instead of 15.  We also don't find out if we won or not for two weeks.  We feel ok about the how we did, but we're not overly confident.  The two top teams from this competition move on to the Tri-state Competition in Las Vegas.  We are hoping to grab one of those two spots.  The first place prize here is $20,000.  That would be a nice little investment for our start-up.  There will be a luncheon on April 20 to announce the winners.  That's when we'll also have the elevator pitch competition.  The Governor will be on hand to cheer us on.  It should be kind of a big deal.

While we were in Little Rock, we sat down and had a conversation with the Arkansas Secretary of State.  He's a pretty sharp fellow himself.  The conversation was interesting.  We talked about our business, politics, and economics.  The entire staff in the capital building was very welcoming.  We got a tour and talked to several people along the way.  This was all arranged by our Chief Business Development Officer, Jack Avery, who is also an elected constable.

Next week we are headed back down to Houston to compete in the Rice Competition which has over $1,000,000 in prizes.  It's also one of the toughest competitions.  Over 500 teams applied, but only 42 teams were accepted.  The University of Arkansas has two teams accepted, us and TiFiber.