Student businesses are tasting success...and ice cream!

Business dreams got a little bit closer to reality for a group of students at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. There were three top winners in the Fourth Annual Business Plan Competition, but the fourth or maybe even first prize winner could have been food. Joey Natour and Seth Elliott's Dine Touch application helped them win first place and $5,000 in the technology-enabled category. Dine Touch is an ordering application for restaurants and their diners that is designed to increase the flow of service.

Colleen Cruze won first place in the lifestyle category, as well as $5,000 for Farm Made Ice Cream. Cruze, an agricultural science major who's father milks local cows, added her ice cream to the ever-popular market for locally produced and hand-crafted foods.

As quoted in Tennessee Today, Tom Graves, operations director of the college’s Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation:

“The Business Plan Competition was designed to develop and encourage an entrepreneurial culture on campus and to support aspiring young entrepreneurs in their quest to create value.”

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville offers conditional admission to international students who meet all admission requirements, but need to improve their English proficiency. Students conditionally admitted attend the University of Tennessee English Language Institute, where they attend classes in reading, writing, grammar and speaking and listening.