Columbus State University announced today the winners of its annual business plan competition. For the first year in the competition’s nine year history, the judges were so impressed with two candidates that they unanimously decided to split the winning prize of $3,000 and issue a tie. Co-winners were Suhyoon and Daniel Wood of Beejou Craft Kombucha and Shannon Eshman of Able-Fi.

Eshman, a current CSU student majoring in special education, is the founder of an app called Able-Fi.  Able-Fi uses visuals, written step-by-step instructions, and behavioral rehearsal to teach people with disabilities functional daily living skills such as tying their shoes and brushing their teeth. The app also includes progress monitoring software that can help teachers and parents track their student’s progress. Eshman was also the winner of CSU’s first ever student invention competition, which was held in February.

Suhyoon and Daniel Wood are co-founders of Beejou Craft Kombucha in uptown Columbus. They began breaking ground on their brewery and taproom in January of 2020 and have experienced months of success, despite the challenges of COVID-19. Beejou offers a signature blend of kombucha brewed with organic green tea and honey. Beejou is now Columbus, Georgia’s first and only small-batch craft kombucha company.

Contestants of this year’s business plan competition submitted comprehensive business plans and met with a panel of judges virtually. Judges of the competition were Rod Barham, Lou Childs, David Mitchell, Jack Goldfrank, and Steve Taylor.   Barham is a retired Brigadier General in the US Army, an alumnus of the Turner College of Business, and a co-owner of Bookkeeping Illuminations, Inc.  Childs is the co-founder of Slumberpod, a company featured on Shark Tank.  David Mtichell is the Director of Enterprise Development at CSU.  Goldfrank is the executive-in-residence in the Turner College. Taylor is a retired entrepreneur and an alumnus of the College of Business.

The business plan competition was created in 2012 by Dr. Kirk Heriot who holds the Crowley Chair in Entrepreneurship.  Prize winners from previous years have gone on to start new businesses based on the plans that they entered into the competition. The competition is open to both students and local citizens.