On Monday, January 25, 1999, the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management awarded eight finalists the opportunity to present their entrepreneurial ideas in a competition to win up to $10,000 in prize money. This successful and annually sponsored event was funded by the Henry R. Kravis Fund for Entrepreneurship Awards Competition. Ten years ago, Henry R. Kravis, a founding member of the Drucker Center Board of Visitors and an alumnus of Claremont McKenna College, established an endowment fund for the students of the Peter F. Drucker School of Management. According to his trust, income generated from this fund was to be awarded to students in the Management and Executive Management Programs who demonstrated promise as entrepreneurs.

The final candidates for this year's competition were Deborah Lotz with Christenson, Lotz & Associates, Jim Armstrong with Empire Graphics, Shakib Ebadi & Joseph Tulong with Global Tradewinds, Dean Tripodes with Information Technology Management, and Ben Liou & Ajit Sivadasan with Socrates Art Loft & Art Exchange. All students worked extremely hard on their projects, which required at the minimum to submit a business plan for a new entrepreneurial venture, a report on such a venture already undertaken or an original idea which did not fit the above two categories, but demonstrated entrepreneurial thinking.

Award selections were determined by a committee composed of Drucker School faculty and practitioners involved in entrepreneurial ventures. This year's judges included Drucker School professors Karen Williams, Jay Prag and Robert Sweitzer. We were also honored to have as one of our judges, Mr. Robert Velker, an executive MBA student at Drucker, and the Event Director for the California Venture Forum in Diamond Bar, California. Mr. Velker has first hand experience with entrepreneurial proposals, and in addition to trying his own startup with food products, he is coordinating the California Venture Forum's Investor Forum on May 5, 1999. Those interested in the California Venture Forum, which has assisted businesses in raising more than $20 million, can get more information by calling Mr. Velker at (909) 860-3212.

The first place winner was Global Tradewinds, an import-export company bringing merchandise from throughout Asia and currently supplying Asian markets and specialty stores in the greater Los Angeles area. We had several candidates tie for second place, including Dean Tripodes with Information Technology Management's professional services website, Baywalk.com. This enterprise ranked highly for providing an innovative service using the tools of the information age. Also winning second place were Socrates Art Loft, a project based on using computer technology to reproduce original works by emerging artists thus increasing the accessibility of new works of art, and Empire Graphics with a proposal for onsite graphics, photography and printing at various events. An Honorable Mention was made of Christenson, Lotz and Associates for their business plan of a printing operation.

The Kravis Entrepreneurial awards are just one of the many opportunities to excel at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. We are continually looking to welcome new students and helping prepare them to enter the field of management. There are many people here who are dedicated to helping you develop the skills needed to lead and manage in the next century. Drucker is a special place where amazing things are happening because we have accepted the responsibility for working together to advance the practice of management. For more information on the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, please visit our website at www.cgu.edu/drucker or call (909) 607-7556.