The University of the West Indies, Mona (UWI) copped first and second place in the recently concluded fifth annual National Business Model Competition (NBMC), with two out of its four student-entrepreneur teams securing a combined cash prize of J$3 million. 

First place – Team Queritel represented by Kevonne Martin (MSBM) and Shani Bennett (Faculty of Law) and Second place – Team ECO-Structures represented by Shanalee Cawley and Kristopher Henry (MSBM), made their winning presentations to a panel of private-sector judges in the final round of the national competition on Friday, March 23, 2018. They competed against twelve other teams across four universities - University of the West Indies, Northern Caribbean University (NCU), University of Technology Jamaica and Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Other UWI teams to participate in the competition were Eagles Car Consulting and Skolastik Oasis Caribbean. 

Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM), with the support of the Faculty of Science and Technology, led the coordination of UWI’s participation in the competition, providing the teams with mentorship, training and support. 

Team UWI - Queritel - the first place winner of the NBMC will go on to represent Jamaica at the upcoming International Business Model Competition (IBMC). This year's IBMC will be held on May 10-11 at the Utah Valley Convention Center & Provo Marriott Hotel in Provo, UT, in the United States, where teams from scores of universities and business schools across the globe will compete for the grand cash prize of US$30,000 and the prestigious IBMC trophy. 

(L-R) Shanalee Cawley and Kristopher Henry of Second Place team ECO-Structures, Ashli Rose Davis, Lead Coordinator, UWI, Shani Bennett and Kevonne Martin of First Place team Queritel.