Loading... Meet the Judges
Five impartial judges will evaluate all business plans. The judges will select finalists and those finalists will have an opportunity to make a presentation of their plans and to be interviewed by the judges. This panel of experienced entrepreneurs was hand chosen due to their continued success in the Wichita Falls area. If a judge has any personal or financial relationship with a competition entrant, that judge will recuse themselves from evaluating that team’s plan or presentation. The judges for 2012 are:
Donna Adams
Kennard F. Hill
Kenn’s business career has been focused in health care and technology, where he’s been an innovator and entrepreneur for over 40 years. He rose through the ranks of EDS, eventually managing over 13,000 employees and $3 Billion in revenue. After EDS, he formed and led several other technology and consulting firms, even guiding one through an IPO. Kenn currently is a senior advisor to the health care leadership team at Perot Systems, which was recently purchased by Dell Computer.
He lives in Wichita Falls, Texas with his wife, Shirley Craft. He is currently the Chair of the Midwestern State University Dillard School of Business Advisory Board
Ann Popejoy
Ms. Popejoy first implemented her entrepreneurial skills by founding a data-processing school in Wichita Falls in the early 1970s. Through this endeavor she naturally saw the advantage of starting her own staffing agency, which later steered her into the home nursing industry. For over 40 years, Ann has used her entrepreneurial skills to start-up, acquire, and develop home care agencies in over 15 states from coast to coast, generating as much as $75 million in annual revenues in today’s dollars. This performance history earned her the 1990 designation of “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Fortune, Inc. Ann now lives in her hometown of Wichita Falls, where she enjoys a game of golf anytime she can get away from her acting role as CEO for five home care agencies throughout Oklahoma and North Texas.
Barry Donnell
Barry Donnell guided two different companies through IPO’s and both were later listed on major stock exchanges. A company he founded in 1984 grew from two employees to 5,600 employees with 24 manufacturing plants scattered throughout the U.S. His company was listed on the NYSE in 1994 and was sold to Warren Buffett two years ago.
Brady Beshear
Mr. Beshear launched his entrepreneurial journey by starting a telecommunications business with a friend in 1992. The business afforded him the opportunity to grow an idea from the ground up – ultimately selling to a publicly traded company in 2004. Additionally, Brady is a co-inventor on multiple patents and pursued alleged infringers to federal court defending the intellectual property rights granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Today he is investing in local real estate while searching for his next venture.
Judging Criteria
To assess the potential to build a thriving business, the judges will use the following criteria:
- Market need for product/service proposed by entrepreneur
- Innovativeness of product/service
- Quality of management team
- Growth potential. This assessment of potential includes the quality of investment opportunities for potential equity investors and lenders as well as the number and types of jobs created in the region.
