Local girl wins West Virginia University competition

West Virginia University graduate Meg Grzeskiewicz was recently awarded $10,000 as one of two winners of the West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition. Grzeskiewicz, 21, of Colden, graduated this year with a degree in livestock science and management. She is a 2009 graduate of Springville-Griffith Institute High School.

This year’s contest was the sixth statewide competition that the WVU Entrepreneurship Center has hosted. The competition, which spans the course of the academic year and includes three rounds, is open to full-time students from four-year colleges and universities in West Virginia. The 2011-12 competition started in September, with 117 teams from nine schools’ entering in one of two categories.

Grzeskiewicz won in the lifestyle and innovation category for her company, Bulls-I Breeding Technology, which became a registered LLC on March 19.

The Colden native has been working with cattle and other species of livestock for six years. She became a certified artificial insemination technician last year.

Bulls-I Breeding Technology, LLC focuses on designing artificial insemination equipment for cattle and is working on developing a patent-pending endoscope-assisted breeding device. Grzeskiewicz said she believes this product will make the artificial insemination process faster and more accurate. “Right now, the second-generation prototypes are underway,” she said.

The next step of that process will be conducting a formal research study. In the mean time, Grzeskiewicz is concentrating on the patent prosecution and pursuing outside investments. Since the competition, a number of individuals and firms have contacted her about working with her company. A beef producer group in West Virginia has come forward to discuss cooperation in research.

Grzeskiewicz said that she expects her first product to hit the market four – five years from now, but she hopes to begin preliminary licensing negotiations with a company next year.