Business plans vie for awards

Pitching their startup business plans to a panel of judges, seven student teams are vying for $60,000 in cash and services at Skidmore's sixth annual Kenneth A. Freirich Business Plan Competition, this Friday, April 8. These finalists will start their presentations at 5 p.m. in the upstairs conference rooms of Murray-Aikins Dining Hall.

"This competition ultimately is about one thing, and that's changing students' lives forever," says Ken Freirich '90, president of Health Monitor Network and founder of the competition. "It's about following your passion. It's about learning how to become an entrepreneur, which is about finding ways to make things happen."

"We turn creative thought into creative action," adds Roy Rotheim, professor of economics and director of the competition. "This is not a course. This is not something that appears on students' transcripts. This is a labor of love."

As in past years, a $20,000 prize will be awarded for first place, $10,000 for second, $5,000 for third, $2,500 for fourth, and $1,000 for runners-up. Also, some $15,000 in business services will be awarded to the three top teams.

After the first round, the finalists were teamed with alumni mentors, who for the last six weeks have been helping them fine-tune their strategies, nail down their financials, and make their messaging sparkle.

The finalists will present in the following order:

Adirondack Apparel: Jamie Benjamin '17 and Leif Catania '17, launching a line of men's and women's clothing that speaks to the spirit of the Adirondack Mountains. Their mentor is Gregg Smith '92, a partner in Edison Nation.

LeMur Technologies: Derek Halden '16, Anh Vu Nguyen '17 and Khalil Hall-Hooper '16, developing a mobile app to evaluate employees via anonymous reviews from supervisors and colleagues. Their mentor is Andrew Eifler '07, an executive at AppNexus.

Rum Dogs: Alexander Nassief '16, producer of a first run of premium ocean-aged rum for luxury clientele in the Caribbean and Europe. His mentor is Sara Arnell '82, a leader at the Magrino Agency, owned by Susan Magrino '83.

Good Citizen: Morgan Reid-Spaulding '16 and Annys Aristy '16, developing a line of trendy clothing that uses recyclable fibers. Their mentor is by Nancy Wekselbaum '73, owner of the Gracious Gourmet.

MyCity Brew: Jonah Epstein '16, who raised $10,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to produce a distinctive Buffalo, N.Y., beer. His mentor is Larry Peck '92, a director at Peck Asset Management.

The Green Onion LLC: Claire Lindsay '16, launching a farmers' cooperative that brings consumers into retail , food, arts and learning events. Her mentor is independent business advisor Christine Juneau '82, P'18.

AuxNation: Noam Kahn '18, Dhruv Singh '18 and Zack Jones '18, developing a mobile app to help DJs better match playlists with the preferences of event attendees. Mentoring them is entrepreneurial physician Kathryn Peper '78.

In addition to Freirich himself, judges in the final round will be:

• Thomas Caulfield, senior vice president and general manager, Fab 8, GlobalFoundries
• Molly Dyson '04, director, Dyson Foundation
• Susan Magrino '83, chair and CEO, Magrino Agency
• Mireya T. J. Manigault '09, regulatory director, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Eric Rongley '89, founder and CEO, Bleum Inc.
• Rich Wartel '91, president and founder, Two Labs Marketing
• Ceci Zak '87, COO, HealthCare at Omnicom-DAS

More than 285 students representing 175 businesses have participated in the competition since it began in 2010.