Two College of Business students received a $10,000 scholarship after winning second place at Purdue University’s 31st annual Burton D. Morgan Business Model Competition on Feb. 23.

John Beutner, senior marketing and business analytics major, and Jason Metz, alumnus of marketing, won second place in the Small Business category of the competition for their model called MediSprout MicroFarms. Beutner said the model would provide consumers with a safe and easy-to-use source of broccoli sprouts for smoothies.

“The competition helped me in taking initiative and being motivated. As long as you work on something consistently, there will always be some sort of pay off in the end,” Metz said. “It helped me sharpen my critical thinking in higher pressure situations and public speaking skills.”

The finalists in the Small Business category also received free startup packages valued at $5,000 from Law, according to a press release. The competition was sponsored by Purdue’s Krannert School of Management and Purdue’s Honors College.

Competitors attended workshops on customer and market discovery, entrepreneurial finance and pitching, provided by the competition sponsors.

Beutner said some changes were made with their business model with the help of the workshops.

Beutner and Metz renamed their business model to Nutri-Sprout MicroFarms. Beutner said he took his own advice throughout the competition to stay motivated.

“Don’t be silent about your ideas,” Beutner said. Metz said the competition allowed him to understand that a career in business can be difficult but one should not give up.

“In your college experience, do as much as you can outside of class. Not only does this look good for you, but it gives you a college experience that you can remember and look back on and say, ‘Wow I did that,’” Metz said.