BYU Hawaii holds Entrepreneurship Conference The 3rd annual entrepreneurship conference centered around helping interested students of BYUH gain associations and knowledge from which they can draw from for the rest of their lives. The Marriott School of Business at BYU in Provo and the School of Business at BYUH worked together to carry out the joint-conference. More than 20 entrepreneurs, most from the Mainland, volunteered their time and money to travel to Hawaii for a few days and work with the students and faculty at BYUH. Ned Hill, dean of the Marriott School of Business, opened the conference by telling students about the importance of entrepreneurship at BYU. "Who was the greatest entrepreneur the world has ever known?" Hill asked. "It was Brigham Young. He established hundreds of businesses, from banks to insurance companies to sugar mills to retail stores - everything." Hill added that "Brigham Young was one of the greatest entrepreneurs that you could ever find, and isn't it appropriate that we talk about entrepreneurship here at BYU?" Hill also emphasized the high quality of those individuals who had come to teach and mentor the BYUH students who were in attendance. "We enjoy coming over here and we hope that we will have a long term relationship with BYUH," he said. "These people that you see here [visiting entrepreneurs] - they are real heroes, they have done incredible things." "They have been successful in the business world, but most importantly, they have been successful in being what their Heavenly Father wants them to be. They are examples that you can look up to," Hill said. More than 300 students and faculty participated in the various forums, panel discussions, mentoring sessions and speeches that were offered on Thursday and Friday of last week. Students who signed up ahead of time were also able to share dinner with the entrepreneurs in the ballroom on Thursday evening. All business classes were cancelled on Friday and business professors encouraged their students to participate in the conference sessions. Some people may have a hard time spelling entrepreneurship, but understanding it's basic meaning is not too difficult. A true entrepreneur finds opportunities to do something better, faster, cheaper or more conveniently than it is presently being done. Budding student entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to enter the 'Business Plan Competition', with the 1st place winner receiving a $5,000 check. Seventeen business plans were entered into the competition, and four of those plans, represented by six finalists, were chosen to advance into the final round of judging. Over $11,000, donated by several entrepreneurs, was presented to the four winners after the final judging results. 1st Place Anand Sangaa and Namuuna Dashdorj took first place and $5,000 with a plan to open several laundromats in Mongolia. The slogan of their business, NG Laundromat, is 'Fast and reliable laundry in only one hour'. "I just can't believe that we actually won this competition," Sangaa said. "We did spend a lot of time on it and did a lot of research, but still, the other guys were good." Sangaa and Dashdorj said they plan on going forward with their business plans in Mongolia once they graduate from BYUH. To hear their entire story click here. 2nd Place Devin Moncur placed second and received a check for $2,500 for his existing business, Linx, which is a line of motor sports apparel and accessories. His business motto is 'Performance you can wear'. Moncur plans to continue marketing his products, which are already being sold in stores. 3rd Place John Reim from BYU-TV reported on the growth of BYU cable television within the last year. Millions of households all over the world can now receive BYU programs. This communication link has allowed for BYU to televise educational, family, and religious programs. Part of the success of BYU-TV is the presence of student workers who have fresh ideas, work hard, and work cheap. By providing great work experience and internships, the BYU-TV and student relationship becomes the ideal for both parties. Through this relationship BYU-TV is able to produce incredible service at an incredibly cheap price relative to other television networks. Founder's Award Darin and Sandy Bell received a special Founders' Award of $2,000 for their take and bake pizza company, Ohana Pizza. The Founders Award was created to stimulate business that will give back to Hawaii and especially the local community. The slogan at Ohana Pizza is, "Our ohana makes it, your ohana bakes it." They plan to open their first location in the Enchanted Lake Shopping Center in Kailua. PHOTOS!!! Click here to check out some great action shots of the conference. You never know, you might be in here!