A team of undergraduate students from the Oregon Business Consulting Group (OBCG) conducted in-depth market research for TryEco. Located in Albany Oregon, TryEco is a leader in developing patented biodegradable super absorbent polymer products that offer the agriculture industry an innovative combination of water savings and increased crop yield.

OBCG is a professionally managed, student-run consulting organization founded in 2014 and housed in the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon.

“We hired OBCG to conduct research to understand the structure and sizing of the most promising growth market segments for our business," said Steve Jennings, President of TryEco.

The OBCG team, led by project manager and junior business student Jordan Hamada, included seniors Alex Summers, Ben Tusluk, and Aaron Greenfield and junior Julie Meunier.

“We decided to use a combination of secondary and primary research to understand the larger trends at play. After creating a market landscape, we contacted over 100 target customers, trade associations, researchers, and government agencies to fill in the details on where TryEco could deliver the most value," said Hamada.

“The ROI [return on investment] models developed by OBCG will help TryEco calculate and communicate the value of our novel solutions for our customers based on their crop type and growing conditions," said Jennings. “This team delivered real value to my company and impressed everyone they interacted with."

The project was funded by Oregon BEST, an independent nonprofit, that nurtures clean technology innovation and economic prosperity for Oregon.