Spring is entrepreneurial season in Tuscaloosa, with a burst of startups and startup ideas blossoming from the Druid City.

In mid-April, the University of Alabama’s Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute hosted the seventh annual Edward K. Aldag Jr. Student Business Plan Competition. Including participants, coaches, judges and spectators, more than 200 people attended the competition, which was held over two days at The EDGE, a business incubator and shared office facility near the UA campus in Tuscaloosa.

A total of 47 teams competed this year for cash prizes in four categories: the Grand Prize Competition, with a $50,000 Grand Prize; the Established Concept Group; and two groups of “Best New Idea” entries. Including the Grand Prize winner, 24 companies were awarded cash prizes totaling more than $100,000. A list of prize winners is available at ALDAG 2023 Winners – Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute (ua.edu).

Medical Properties Trust founder Edward K. Aldag launched the student business plan competition. (Alabama Entrepreneurship Instititute)

The Grand Prize was won by ecobrew. Founded by UA student Brian Henderson, the company engineers, designs and installs systems that help breweries save money and increase sustainability by recycling the CO2 used in the carbonation process.

The student business plan competition — popularly known as “the Aldags” — is made possible by support from Edward K. Aldag, the founder, chairman, president and CEO of Medical Properties Trust (MPT). Based in Birmingham, MPT is a real estate investment trust that is the world’s leading source of capital for hospitals. A guest lecturer at both UA and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Aldag serves on numerous leading business and charitable boards.

“This competition has become a key part of the entrepreneurial students’ experience at UA, and we have the generosity and vision of Edward K. Aldag Jr. to thank for that,” said Theresa Welbourne, the Will and Maggie Brooke professor in entrepreneurship at UA. Welbourne is also executive director of the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute (AEI), a program of the Culverhouse College of Business housed at The EDGE.

In addition to the category-specific prizes, all entrants were eligible for additional cash awards sponsored by other organizations, including the Alabama Power Foundation. The foundation funded the Innovative Technology Awards with prizes of $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000 for groundbreaking technology-focused ideas. Other sponsors included the Alabama Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Regions Bank, along with the city of Tuscaloosa and the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

“Encouraging and supporting innovation and initiative is one of the ways we create more and better opportunities for all Alabamians,” said Staci Brown Brooks, president of the Alabama Power Foundation. “The Aldag awards are an investment in the future of our state and its people, and the Alabama Power Foundation takes pride in supporting that.”

Ecobrew founder Brian Henderson, winner of the $50,000 Grand Prize in the “Aldag” student business plan competition. (Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute).

The competition was staged with assistance from 36 judges and facilitators, along with staff and interns from AEI. The growing level of volunteer support for the Aldags indicates the community’s awareness of the awards’ importance to continuing to build Alabama’s profile as a regional and national hub of innovation.

“We are honored to have so much help from members of the community,” Welbourne said. “More people helping every year is one reason the competition just keeps getting better.”

Days after the conclusion of the student business plan competition, the EDGE hosted the latest cycle in the long-running Alabama Launchpad pitch competition, in which two Alabama startups took home a combined $75,000. Nine finalists competed for funds.

The Culverhouse College of Business at The University of Alabama is home to more than 9,600 undergraduate and graduate students, 10 research and outreach centers, and a variety of academic programs. The AEI is a research and outreach program of the college, focused on identifying and empowering early stage entrepreneurs and supporting existing entrepreneurial businesses throughout the state.