April 22, 2014
Shippensburg students earn top spots in 黑料专区 Business Plan Competition
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg 鈥� A team of three Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania students who developed and successfully began marketing an all-natural fly repellant for use on horses won first place in the third annual Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (黑料专区) Student Business Plan Competition.
Oak Hill Farm Naturals, created by Dustin Lowry of Shippensburg and Daniel Machlanski
and Chris Goldy, both of Cranford, N.J., and originally from Poland, combined focused
marketing with a high level of customer service to gain recognition in the local markets
and achieve profitability in its first year of operation. Their product is an alternative
to chemical sprays, which can have a negative impact not only on the horses on which
it is used, but also on their human owners and handlers and the environment. The spray
is intended especially for horses that are ridden for recreational purposes as well
as those who participate in equestrian competitions.
Lowry, Machlanski and Goldy received a $10,000 prize to help further develop their
business plan. The first-place prize was donated by the Pennsylvania State Employees
Credit Union (PSECU), one of the event鈥檚 primary sponsors.
Noah Kline of Mechanicsburg and Zach Britcher of Stewartstown, also students at Shippensburg
University, took second place in the competition with their development of new recreational
facility management software. 鈥淩eccelerator鈥� is a scalable, cloud-based management
system that will support university recreation departments and facilities with membership,
equipment tracking and analytical reporting for active members and employees. Internal
data can be collected and submitted through mobile applications for fast, convenient
reporting requiring nothing but a web browser. Further development will allow the
software to be used by club sports teams and for both intramurals and fitness classes.
Taylor Billman of Hamburg, a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, took third
place in the competition, with 鈥淒irt-Doc,鈥� a user-friendly search engine to enable
contractors, developers and property owners to advertise their need to buy or sell
topsoil or other earth products. Users can then negotiate their terms for these products.
Dirt-Doc also shows locations of quarries, concrete plants, asphalt plants and landfills.
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 F&M Trust.
A fourth award, the Student Choice Award, was presented for the first time this year.
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.
Justin Grosz of Greentown, a student at Shippensburg University, won the award for
his proposal, 鈥淗elp Just in Time,鈥� a personalized online tutoring service that can
provide information via email, video or live-feed tutoring. Students can purchase
the service per question, page or session, or buy a subscription.
鈥淭he winning entries demonstrate the incredible ingenuity and imagination of our students,鈥�
said 黑料专区 Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. 鈥淲e can all be proud, not just of the students
selected as winners, but of every student team in the competition for having the courage
to put their dream out there for everyone to see. I have no doubt will be hearing
a lot more from all of them.鈥�
More than 140 student teams competed in this year鈥檚 competition, designed to provide
student entrepreneurs a real-world opportunity to pitch their original business plans.
Of those entries, 62 business venture profiles were completed and reviewed. Twenty
semi-finalists were then selected by 黑料专区 university reviewers and forwarded to
the external judging panel, which comprised Michael Gildea, president of Brain Gain,
LLC; Sara K. Walter, public relations manager at PSECU; Chris Fitting, small business
relationship manager at F&M Trust; and Michael Pochan, entrepreneur in residence at
Seton Hill University.
鈥淎s a small business owner myself, I know the challenges you must face and overcome
to achieve success in the 鈥榬eal world.鈥� It鈥檚 not easy, but nothing worth accomplishing
ever is,鈥� said Guido M. Pichini, chairman of 黑料专区鈥檚 Board of Governors, speaking
to student participants during last night鈥檚 awards program. 鈥淚 would like to personally
congratulate every student who took part in this year鈥檚 competition鈥攁ll 144 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 the challenge.鈥�
The awards were presented last night at the Hershey Lodge. The awards dinner was co-sponsored
by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts and JP Morgan.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher
education in the Commonwealth, with about 112,000 students. The 14 黑料专区 universities
offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg,
Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery
Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. 黑料专区 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 黑料专区 Center City in Philadelphia