A company created by three Elon students as part of Elon's Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership has been selected as a finalist in a New Venture Creation Competition sponsored by the University of Evansville.
Seniors R. J. Yozwiak, Ian Baltutis, and Michael Vantusko launched a startup company, The Vibration Solution, LLC, to market vibration dampening coasters that set under the feet of washing machines. The coasters utilize a patented material called Sorbothane (owned by the parents of R. J. Yozwiak) that is used in many other industrial, government and commercial applications. Extensive testing and design went into the development of this product. It is actually two sets of coasters. One set for the back feet allow the washing machine to slide into place. The front two coasters grab the floor surface to prevent the machine from moving around. Tests show that in most applications approximately 80-90% of the vibration caused by unbalanced loads is eliminated by SilentFeet. This performance makes the product far superior to the current products on the market (primarily rubber mats or small pads).
The business plan for the SilentFeet product was developed through the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Entrepreneurship Concentration of the Business Administration major. This is a three-course sequence beginning in the first term of the students’ junior year, led by Barth Strempek, Doherty Professor and associate professor of business administration.
Other finalists in the University of Evansville competition include the following:
9 Line Women’s Fashion- University of Evansville
BizNetBook – Bradley University
Bizooki – Belmont University
Dirty Work Contracting – University of Evansville
Engage – Purdue University
Expansive Energy – Butler University
FirstLine Aviation Services – Indiana University East
FreeLectric – Purdue University
Greek Expectations – University of Evansville
ICEwave – Rose-Hulman University
Idea point – University of Evansville
Riot! Boutique- Belmont University
Simply Student, LLC. – Bowling Green State University
Aound AFX – Belmont University
Springer Design – Goshen College