Marywood University Students & Faculty Capture Top Awards in TecBridge Business Plan Competition
SCRANTON, PA (April 29, 2016)— Marywood University’s Collegiate Teams won the 2016 TecBridge Business Plan Competition, capturing the competition’s top three placements and earning additional awards and recognition. Marywood University’s team, aya fair trade, won the top prize of $10,000 in cash start-up funds and $100,000 in-kind services, which includes legal assistance, accounting office space, and equipment. The second team finishers were Marywood University’s Esport Lift, and third place finishers were Marywood’s Lawless Lift Systems.
Marywood University was also the winner of the Smit-Webster Founders Award for top University among the fourteen colleges and universities who participate in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Christopher Speicher, Ph.D., associate professor of business and entrepreneurial director at Marywood’s School of Business and Global Innovation, received the Faculty Advisor of the Year award at the ceremony.
Marywood University teams swept this year’s competition, attaining the top three teams from more than eighteen entries. Aya fair trade was selected as the overall winner of the competition. Aya fair trade team members include: Ellen Clauss, Lake Ariel, Pa.; and Randall England, Elkton, Md. The second place team, Esport Lift, includes: Paul Capoccia, Dunmore, Pa.; and the third place team, Lawless Lift Systems, members include: Jack Lawless, Dunmore, Pa.; Thomas Lapinski, Dunmore, Pa.; Nicholas Trainor, Roaring brook Twp., Pa.
In addition to the top three winning teams, nine Marywood University graduate students came in first place for the financial challenge presented by Gibraltar Ventures, a division of Prudential Insurance. They also won the $10,000 prize for the company they created, WasRetired.com, which is a platform to be used by adults, age 65 years and over, who are retired but wish to secure employment part-time.
Previous Marywood team winners of the TecBridge Business Plan Competition employ more than 700 people in entrepreneurial pursuits worldwide. Marywood business teams are consistently top-ranking in entrepreneurial developments in Northeast Pennsylvania, with the highest number of business start-ups per graduating student.
TecBridge is a regional collegial organization that collaboratively strives to create and embrace entrepreneurial opportunities with the purpose of growing technology and biotechnology wealth within Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Marywood University’s Collegiate Teams won the 2016 TecBridge Business Plan Competition, capturing the competition’s top three placements and earning additional awards and recognition.
Marywood University was also the winner of the Smit-Webster Founders Award for top University among the fourteen colleges and universities who participate in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Christopher Speicher, Ph.D., associate professor of business and entrepreneurial director at Marywood’s School of Business and Global Innovation, received the Faculty Advisor of the Year award at the ceremony.
Pictured (left to right): Nicholas Trainor, Roaring Brook Twp., Pa.; Jack Lawless, Dunmore, Pa.; and Thomas Lapinski, Dunmore, Pa.; third place award winners for their entrepreneurial product, Lawless Lift Systems. Pictured at center is Christopher Speicher, Ph.D., associate professor of business and entrepreneurial director at Marywood’s School of Business and Global Innovation, and recipient of the Faculty Advisor of the Year award at the tecBridge ceremony. Followed by Paul Capoccia, Dunmore, Pa.; second place team, Esport Lift. Finally, overall winners of the tecBridge Business Plan Competition, Ellen Clauss, Lake Ariel, Pa., and Randall England, Elkton, Md., aya fair trade