In Business for Good

Colleges have long been a source of innovative ideas, and in recent years many higher institutions of learning have adopted formal programs to assist students and faculty in starting up a business around their idea.

The recent Collegiate Challenge, presented by Conscious Capitalism Arizona and hosted by Grand Canyon University, focused on encouraging startups that incorporate the tenets of Conscious Capitalism, including a higher purpose and the clear message of “business as a force for good.”

Ten teams from Arizona universities and colleges competed for cash prizes and awards by presenting innovative, viable business venture plans. Every team won at least two awards for competing: $500 cash from Conscious Capitalism Arizona and a 12-month membership to the conscious co-working space MAC6. And local angel investors were among the several hundred people who attended the event.

Winning teams were Arizona State University’s TurnoverBnB, which created software that handles the scheduling and confirmation of the home cleaning turnover for those who market vacation rentals on AirBnB; University of Arizona’s Ecocrete, which creates safe, cost-effective and eco-friendly construction materials from the by-products of mining and energy industries, such as mine tailings and fly ash; and Grand Canyon University’s Prophet Insight, aimed at providing small-business owners a competitive analysis of social media, visualization of public data and statistical analysis of internal information through an SaaS platform and one-on-one consultations that will gain them “prophet-like insights for their business.”

Asserting a passion for education and Conscious Investment, the chairman of Conscious Capitalism’s Arizona chapter, Scott McIntosh, says, “Our Arizona chapter, CCAZ, is dedicated to bringing Conscious Capitalism to education, initially to university business schools, and ultimately to K-12 and all of university systems. We are working to create an Arizona template for Conscious Capitalism in education curriculum, and we will share the template with schools across the country and around the globe.”