A business plan and feasibility study by a recent UCA graduate has been named among the finalists in the Small Business Institute Case of the Year competition.
Modupe Ladeji, who graduated in December with an MBA from UCA, was recognized for his business plan and feasibility study for an oil and gas exploration consulting firm in his native country of Nigeria.
“His feasibility study on the oil and natural gas industry in Nigeria fit in well with the current natural gas exploration in the Conway area,” said Don Bradley, professor of marketing at UCA and executive director of the Small Business Advancement National Center. “This is the first time I have ever submitted something to the national contest, and it ended up being one of the finalists. He was up against hundreds of schools from across the U.S. and Canada, and this is a prestigious award for UCA to be considered for.”
The winners of the competition will be announced on Feb. 16 at the SBI national conference in San Diego.
Ladeji is now a project coordinator for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in Bentonville, Ark.
He completed his project in Bradley’s entrepreneurship class at UCA.
“This really shows the internationalization of our MBA program,” Bradley said. “Through that class, we do projects all over Arkansas, the U.S. and around the world through Winrock International. If anyone wants a feasibility study, that’s what we do. We encourage anyone who wants a business feasibility study to contact us.”