April 16, 2015

Team from IUP wins fourth annual Student Business Plan Competition

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – A team of students from Indiana University of Pennsylvania who designed a web-based application that helps persons dealing with drug and alcohol abuse problems won the $10,000 first place prize in the fourth annual Student Business Plan Competition sponsored by Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
“My New Leaf” is an app designed specifically for 14- to 24-year-olds, an age group that typically shies away from traditional treatment for addiction. It relies on evidence-based research from professionals in the addiction field and utilizes a “gamified” design and rewards-based approach to engage users.
The eight-member team from IUP, led by senior Ryan Brannon of Saltsburg, will use the $10,000 award to help further develop its business plan. The first-place prize was donated by the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU), the event’s primary sponsor.
Second place in the competition went to Pacific Bridge, a team of students from Clarion University of Pennsylvania led by senior Evan Schindler of Pittsburgh that developed a business plan designed to provide a comprehensive array of support services to Chinese students seeking admittance to American universities.
The third-place prize went to a team of students from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania led by senior Kyle Reighard of Danville that last year founded Ascendant Enterprises. The team plans to use the corporation to establish a series of entrepreneurial ventures. Its first company, Locked & Loaded: Safes & Arms, was launched last year.
The second- and third-place winners received $5,000 and $2,500 respectively, also to be used to assist in the further development of their proposed business ventures. The runners-up awards were donated by PNC Bank and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts.
Two other teams were selected as finalists from among the nearly 50 teams that submitted completed business venture profiles for the competition. RockRoast, a team from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania led by John Mullins of Slippery Rock, developed a plan for a company that would source organic, fair-trade coffee from Costa Rica; and XS Interactive LLC, a team from West Chester University of Pennsylvania led by Nicholas Hinkson of Hatboro, submitted a plan for a web-hosted platform for peer-to-peer exchange of goods and services focused exclusively on college students.
RockRoast was the winner of the second Student Choice Video Award. Based on an optional YouTube video submission in addition to the business plan, the winner was determined based on the total number of video views on YouTube.
The awards were presented at the Dixon University Center. The awards ceremony was co-sponsored by JP Morgan, the East Stroudsburg University Center for Research and Economic Development, MVM Associates and Startup PA.
“I’m a business owner myself. I know how daunting a task it is to develop a workable plan, and then to make it succeed,” said Guido M. Pichini, chair of the State System’s Board of Governors, speaking at the awards ceremony. “It’s not easy. Nothing worth accomplishing ever is. Each of you probably understands that far better today than you did when you first considered entering this competition.
“I want to personally congratulate every student who accepted the challenge and took part in this year’s competition—all 124 teams that initially submitted their business ideas back in the fall. Every one of you is a winner simply by your willingness to take on that challenge.”
The annual competition is designed to provide student entrepreneurs a real-world opportunity to pitch their original business plans. Of the 124 student teams that entered the competition this year, 48 turned in completed business venture profiles and had them reviewed by the internal competition committee, largely comprised of faculty from the 14 State System universities. The field eventually was narrowed to 12 semi-finalists, whose business plans were then forwarded to an external judging panel.
The external panel was chaired by Michael Gildea, former president of BrainGain, LLC, and, since January, director of Business Accelerator and Entrepreneurship at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Other judges on the panel were Sarah Weiser, public relations manager at PSECU; Michael Pochan, entrepreneur in residence and adjunct professor at Seton Hall University; Donald Webster Jr., president of Marathon Strategies, LLC; and Kenneth Okrepkie, regional manager of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“All of the students who took part in this year’s competition deserve our congratulations,” said State System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. “They have demonstrated real-world application of what they have learned in the classroom; a true measure of success. I also would like to thank our outstanding faculty who are the impetus behind this competition, especially those who served on the competition committee and helped judge the student plans, and the sponsors of the competition. Without their support, the awards and the opportunity to further advance the business plans would not be possible.”
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 110,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.
The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.