Fisher Students Advance in NYS Business Plan Competition

April 5, 2024

On Tuesday, April 2, St. John Fisher University hosted the New York Business Plan Regional Competition, an annual event providing entrepreneurial students a platform to compete against peers from neighboring colleges and universities.

School of Business faculty and students at the New York Business Plan Regional Competition.

Over 50 entrepreneurs from the University of Rochester, RIT, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Fisher competed to advance to the next round. Among these 28 teams were three teams from Fisher:  Campus Spot, Course Clarity, and Real Food. Each team prepared a business plans to support the launch of their ventures.

Campus Spot, led by Khalid Lockhart, Maddie Nadrich, and Jake Sartini, aspires to develop software to redefine parking on college campuses. Course Clarity, pitched by Dylan Becker, is a platform providing resources to students regarding course information before registering for classes. Real Food, owned by Caleb Thomas, is a freeze-dried fruit company making healthy snacking convenient and enjoyable.

Teams Real Food and Campus Spot both advanced to the state level.

For Thomas, this experience was inspiring. “Having the event hosted at St. John Fisher was amazing! Having such a large event here that brings in students from the surrounding schools is inspiring. I’m grateful for the Fisher faculty and staff that made this possible and I’m excited for the future of entrepreneurship at Fisher,” he said.

Nadrich, a senior business management student at Fisher, found inspiration in presenting her team’s business concept to professionals who recognized its potential and saw future investment prospects in the group’s venture. “The NYBPC was an amazing experience! Not only was I able to pitch the business idea I have been working on and receive helpful feedback, I was able to network and talk with other students like myself. It was such a cool and fun experience and I would recommend anyone interested in starting their own business to go and compete next year - I had a blast!”

Teams who advanced to the next round will compete at the state level in Albany on April 25 for a chance to advance to nationals to win $25,000 to invest in their company.