Differential Proteomics Wins 2008 North of Boston Business Plan Competition

SALEM, Mass., May. 15 /PRNewswire/ --

Beverly Company WINS $10,000 first prize; Flavrz of Gloucester second; Enterprise Homes LLC of Andover third.

SALEM, Mass., May 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Last night, at an event put on by the Enterprise Center at Salem State College, the winners of the Fourth Annual North of Boston Business Plan Competition were announced. Differential Proteomics, a biotech company based in Beverly won the grand prize of $10,000. Flavrz, an organic beverage company from Gloucester came in second winning $6,000 and Enterprise Homes LLC of Andover took home the third prize of $4,000.

The competition was put on by the Enterprise Center at Salem State College, The Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council, Inc., and The Merrimack Valley Venture Forum.

"Our region is a hot spot for emerging companies. This is clearly reflected in the innovative, high quality entrants in this year's competition," said Christine Sullivan, Executive Director of the Enterprise Center.

Thirty companies entered the contest. Of these seven semi-finalists were chosen by a panel of investors, bankers, business owners, academics and entrepreneurs. Of the seven, four finalists were selected to participate in the finale.

The winners are:

First Place: Differential Proteomics (>) - Beverly, MA

Differential Proteomics is a Biotech Company that uses its patented technology to help identify specific diseases and cancer. Their company improves clinical outcomes by applying Biomarkers throughout all aspects of drug discovery and development. The market for these new reagents is in excess of 15 billion dollars. Phil Holberton made the presentation with contributions by Robert McBurney, PhD., and Paul Stroobant, PhD.

Second Place: Flavrz Beverage Corp. (>) - Gloucester, MA

Karen Barth, who has a Harvard MBA and over 10 years of experience in the beverage industry, founded Flavrz Beverage Corp, a socially responsible, eco-friendly, distributor of organic beverages. Karen presented her plan for a multimillion dollar beverage company with 50+ employees in the Cape Ann area.

Third Place: Enterprise Homes LLC (>) - Andover, MA

Kyle McKinney and Ambassador Charles Stith made a compelling presentation on their company, Enterprise Homes LLC which plans, develops and monitors cutting edge housing developments in Tanzania.