What started as a recycling project in a garage is now an award-winning company that is being recognized for its accomplishments. Michael Biddle, founder of the MBA Polymers in Richmond, Calif., received the first-ever entrepreneurship award from Ball State University.-á
Ball State's Entrepreneurship Center gave Biddle the Ascent Award on March 3 during a ceremony at the Conrad Hotel in Indianapolis.-á
Biddle started his company in his garage in 1994, recycling plastics from all forms of electronic waste because no one else was doing it, Susan Aumiller, a controller at MBA Polymers, said. -á
Today, the company is the world's most advanced recycler of plastics used in durable goods and recycles more than 40,000 tons of plastic annually.-á
Biddle was one of three finalists chosen for the center's inaugural award. The winner was chosen from a list of 10 entrepreneurs from across the country, Entrepreneurship Center Director Larry Cox-ásaid.
The compilation was then shown to senior entrepreneur majors at Ball State who choose the three finalists. From there, camera teams followed the founders and made a documentary about each entrepreneur. The documentaries were shown at the award ceremony, and BSU entrepreneur alumni voted on the story they felt was the most compelling, Cox said.-á
Biddle and the rest of his company was happy to receive this award because of the way it was chosen, Aumiller said.-á
"We all thought it was so impressive that students were a part of the process in choosing the winner of this award," Aumiller said. "It is really good to know that young people have taken an interest in something like this."-á
The other finalists also had qualities that made them worthy of winning, Cox said, even though only one could be chosen.
"They were all superstars," he said. "They were all so humble and so pleased to be up for the award. They were warm and reached out to all the guests at the ceremony. It was amazing how people responded to them, as well."-á
The other finalists included Tom Szaky, who created an alternative waste management solution that uses worms, and Amilya Antonetti, who created her own hypoallergenic cleaning products.
The students chose these three candidates because they connected to them on a deeper level than the rest, Cox said.-á
"These three had a big impact on the students," Cox said. "These three all solved some basic human problem that ultimately has a bigger impact on society."
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