Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF students may win up to $20,000 if they submit successful business plan ideas to SU’s Panasci Business Plan Competition.

Sixteen semifinalist teams were selected for the competition, which will take place from Friday to Saturday, said Lindsay Wickham, events and communications manager of the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, which hosts the competition.

After the first day of competition, five finalists will be chosen, Wickham said. The top three will receive prizes of $20,000, $7,500 and $2,500, respectively. But that only accounts for half of the prize money — the teams will receive the other half after executing the plans for their businesses, Wickham said.

Wickham added that one thing she likes about the competition is that SU does not take a percentage of the money made by the winning teams.

“If you receive money for winning you are not expected to give away any part of your company,” she said.

Terry Brown, executive director of the Falcone Center, recalled one of his favorite ideas in the competition’s past — a plan called “JoJo rings.”

“The idea was that you could take old keys and make them into rings,” he said. “…They placed second in the competition. There are all sorts of ideas that we see come through and it seems like the ideas are endless.”

Brown added that entrepreneurship is growing on college campuses across the country, and that he thinks SU is the best “when it comes to promoting and helping students with entrepreneurship.

“We have a great blend of professors and aid for students in helping to develop their ideas in successful business plans that they can present,” Brown said.

James Shomar — who participated in the event in 2013 by creating Solstice Power, a company that provides solar energy — said the event is useful even for those who don’t win, since it provides experience.

Shomar added that he recommends that applicants make their ideas “market relevant.”

“It is so important for people to try and make their idea fill customers ideas,” he said. “Just because something is interesting does not mean it will be successful.”

Published on April 13, 2016 at 10:50 pm

Contact Connor: clried@syr.edu