Siena College is sending five teams of student entrepreneurs to the state finals of the Eighth Annual New York Business Plan Competition after a commanding performance in the Capital Region regional semifinals Friday at SUNY Poly Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.
The finalists from 10 regionals across the state will compete in the finals on Friday, April 28 on the campus of SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our students,” Matthew Cusack, executive director of Siena’s David ’73 and Christine Spicer ’73 Stack Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said. “All of our teams worked incredibly hard to reach the semifinals, and to see five advance to the finals is a great testament to the level of innovation taking place on campus. Siena is proud to be part of such a rich and vibrant ecosystem that's supported by so many colleges and universities. The Stack Center will be filled with even more hard work and energy in April. We welcome the assistance of any faculty and alumni who may want to assist in the coaching of these five teams.”
Friday’s semifinal featured 21 teams from RPI, Skidmore, SUNY Polytechnic, the University at Albany and Siena. The teams competed across six tracks with the top overall teams advancing to the finals. Siena’s five qualifying teams were far and away the most among area colleges. Siena's teams are comprised of students working together from all three schools: Liberal Arts, Business and Science.
Siena took first and second place in the Information Technology/Software Track with TeachMe and Inky Community moving on to the finals. Let’s Chat About It was awarded first place in the Social Entrepreneurship/Non-Profit track, and JobLights and Finest Tide Oysters were first and second in the Products track. Siena didn’t field teams in the Clean Technology, Advanced Technology or Services tracks. CarMode earned a spot in the regional semifinals, but did not advance.
The New York Business Plan Competition is a venture creation and innovation competition that was established in 2010 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship throughout New York’s colleges and universities. With over $500,000 in prizes annually, it is one of the largest collegiate business plan competitions in the world.
Siena's competing teams consisted of the following students:
TeachMe*
Jen Hogan '17 (Computer Science, Entrepreneurship minor), Kevin Danaher '17 (Computer Science, Entrepreneurship minor), Firmin Alexander '17 (Computer Science, Entrepreneurship minor)
Let's Chat About It*
Garrison Grant '17 (Management), Bryce Fraser '17 (Marketing)
CarMode
Ryan Parshall '17 (Management), Javion Ogunyemi '17 (Management), Koushik Pernati '17 (Computer Science), Aidan Trees '17(Computer Science)
Inky Community*
George Santoire '17, (Psychology, Entrepreneurship minor), Simon Bruno '18, (Economics, Entrepreneurship minor), Mikayla Lansing '19 (Social Work, Entrepreneurship minor), Hamza Memon '18 (Computer Science), Tristan Canova '18 (Computer Science)
JobLights*
Joshua Daly '18 (Management, Entrepreneurship minor), Joe DeMarco '18 (Environmental Science, Entrepreneurship minor), Anthony Chapones '18 (Finance, Entrepreneurship minor)
Finest Tide Oysters*
Robert Ewing '17 (Environmental Studies, Entrepreneurship minor), Michaella Barracato '17 (Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Italian minor)
*Advanced to state finals April 28
