Pace Lubin

 

The judging panel collectively chose the overall winner and then each judge selected an individual finalist.

Dane Disimino (selected by Emanuel Martinez) – FINALIST ($250)
Class: Junior, 2006
School: Lubin School of Business
Major: Management/Entrepreneurship, minors in Philosophy and East Asian Studies
Degree: BBA
Interests: Founder P.A.C.E.; Corporate Marketing Chairperson, Up till Dawn, St. Judes Children Hospital; Managing Pace Perk will be my job next semester. Plan to be an entrepreneur after college or will continue to graduate school. Went to 2004 C-E-O conference held in Chicago and spoke to several CEOs such as Michael Regan of Tranzact. Love to exercise, read and analyze world events and issues particularly in China. Played football for two years but stopped due to health reasons.

PITCH: For the past several years, there has been an open space in the center of the Briarcliff campus virtually unused. This space has a kitchen and is in a great location. P.A.C.E. will transform this space into a student run business by next semester. How will we do this? With 1500 students dorming in Pleasantville and 1000 of them in the area of this open space, we are sure to generate plenty of revenue selling coffee, food, and other items. We have already been approved by the Budget Allocation Committee for funding of this new opportunity and have full support of the SDCA offices. We will call this student run business the Pace Perk and it will be the first student run business on campus. With the university in need of excitement and activity, the Pace Perk will be the answer to many of Pace's needs.

Dwayne Sykes (selected by Jerald Posman) – FINALIST ($250)
Class: Junior
School: Computer Science and Information Systems
Major: Personal Computing Studies
Degree: BS
Work Experience: JPMorgan Chase, Sr. System Analyst (current employer)

PITCH: Multiform Solutions, Inc. (MSI) is committed to change the world's perceptions of paraplegic and quadriplegics. Through technology MSI will heighten awareness and assist in providing Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) individuals in becoming a contribution to society. MSI is a not-for-profit business that will design systems, provide technical support, and job placement for paraplegics and quadriplegics. MSI foresee creating technical seminars, benefits and other fundraiser events to assist in providing funds for SCI research.

Peter Swift (selected by Clarence B. Jones) – FINALIST ($250)
Class: First Year
School: Lubin School of Business
Major: Management and Marketing
Degree: D.P.S. (Doctor of Professional Studies)
Other Degrees: B.S. in Political Science and Economics, Brown University; M.B.A. in Marketing from the Harvard Business School
Work Experience: I currently own my own marketing consulting company, Horizon Consulting Group, which provides business building strategies and program execution to consumer package goods companies. Clients have included Pepsi-Cola, Duracell, Pfizer, and about forty others. Also an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University and Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.
Interests: Inspiration for my new idea was my experience with my three children, two are in college, and one on the way. All three went through the college prep process, and I also studied how other parents and kids go through the ordeal. You can observe a lot by watching (Yogi Berra).

PITCH: SAT Games are computer console games targeted to the $4 billion dollar college prep market. They are as entertaining as existing console games, but importantly they are also a fun learning tool to improve college entrance testing scores. The games incorporate verbal and math power clue enhancing questions into the game play. Two million new families take the college entrance test every year and virtually all teen households have an Xbox or PlayStation.

Andres Martin (selected by Carolyn Chin) – FINALIST ($250)
Class: Senior
School: Lubin School of Business
Major: Management
Degree: B.B.A.
Work Experience: Currently a Vice President of Eldorado Coffee Ltd. I opened my own Cafe in New Orleans, LA and ran it for 4 years.
Interests: P.A.C.E., Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity, racing cars via www.SCCA.org, and vintage watch collecting.

PITCH: Wristo.com is a niche online auction site for watch collectors. It will take the online auction one step further by featuring information resources in order to educate its customers during pre-sale. During transactions it will offer a 10 pt authentication and grading service. Post transaction it will allow buyer and seller a chance to comment on auction via feedback. Wristo.com aims to create online auction transparency and its is limited only by Internet access.

Roy Gilis (selected by Charles F. Ryan) – FINALIST ($250)
Class: Senior, 2005
School: Lubin School of Business
Major: Business Information Systems
Degree: B.B.A.
Work Experience: I worked in the IT department of the Government of Israel Ministry of Defense, Mission to the U.S. in New York. I had a small internet company that was supposed to provide some online services but unfortunately it didn't succeed.BR> Interests: These days I'm actively interviewing and sending resumes for a new job.

PITCH: The new business concept I am presenting is a Cellular PBX. A PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. A PBX is basically a telephone system within an organization that switches calls between users on local lines while allowing all users to share a certain number of external phone lines. The main purpose of a PBX is to allow the organization to save money on its telephony costs. The PBX that I would like to pitch will integrate the cellular into the organization's land line and will enable the organization to take its telephony services into the 21st century.

Noushi Rahman (selected by Brian J. Nickerson) – FINALIST ($250)
Other Degrees: Ph.D. in Strategic Management, City University of New York; M.Phil. in Business, City University of New York; M.B.A. in Strategic Management, City University of New York; B.S. (magna cum laude) in General Management, University of South Alabama.
Work Experience: Currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, Lubin School of Business, Pace University.
Interests: Research interests include strategic alliances, corporate strategy, top management teams, public and non profit management.

PITCH: The Ceiling Bed: "In most efficiency studio apartments, the bed occupies about 20% of the available space. As alcove studios get converted to one-bedrooms and one-bedrooms to two-bedrooms, the room-sizes become increasingly smaller. This mounting need for workable space is addressed by our proposed product—an aluminum-based "ceiling-bed," which is raised up to the ceiling during the day to allow more working space to tenants. Major users of the product would include small-apartment owners, university dormitories, and budget-hotels."

Dr. Rahman led the team that comprised a budding economist (Kyoko Mona), an SBA intern studying as a sophomore in the City College (Fabiha Naumi), and a bona fide entrepreneur (Robert Panco, Jr.).

Rui Jin (Amanda) – OVERALL WINNER ($1,000)
Class: 1st year, 2006
School: Lubin School of Business
Major: International Business
Degree: M.B.A.
Other Degrees: B.B.A., Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, Beijing, China
Work Experience: Auditor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd., Beijing, China

PITCH: A Culture Adventure In China. It is not simply a one-month vacation in China, but an awesome culture adventure. During the trip, your ABC kids will have great opportunities to learn Chinese language, experience Confucius culture, communicate with local contemporaries, eat authentic Chinese food, and live with host families. Even more, they will build up a bridge between China and U.S., being messengers to bring back a New China to you!

 

 


"Opportunity through Entrepreneurship"SM