A group of Wartburg students was one of 56 groups to present their business plan at the Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures® Competition at Texas Christian University.

Led by Haley Harms of Albert Lea, Minn., the group, including Jackie Falconer, Coggon; Liam Conroy, Mount Vernon; Alison Rusch, Peosta; and Ashlee Henderson, Mankato, Minn., presented their idea for a zero-waste coffee shop called Force of Nature.

“I first created the concept in my Advanced Design class. The goal of this class is to create a company of our choice and brand it — creating the logo, posters, brand guidelines and design aspects of the company,” said Harms, a senior graphic design major. “Fall Term of this year I then took Entrepreneurship with Dr. (Allan) Bernard, where I wrote the business plan for the company. I’ve always had a passion for protecting the environment, and through my designs and this company, I was able to pair this passion and concern for the future of the environment with a creative twist to the normal coffee shop.”

Though the team didn’t make it to the finals, Harms said they were proud of their presentation and inspired by the whole event.

“No one from my team had ever participated in something so special before. We learned how to really trust our knowledge and each other during these couple of days,” she said.

Bernard, Wartburg professor of business administration, is the team’s adviser, and Michael Murphy, a 1989 Wartburg graduate, sponsored their trip.

“The Force of Nature business plan was the result of many long nights of hard work. Only one-third of the teams that applied to the Values and Ventures were selected to compete in Fort Worth,” Bernard said. “I hope the team members are as proud of their accomplishment as I am. I look forward to working with future Wartburg teams in this competition.

For a complete list of competing universities teams and business plans, visit neeley.tcu.edu/vandv.