New Paltz School of Business triumphs at 2021 Mid-Hudson Regional Business Plan Competition

Teams of students representing SUNY New Paltz won four out of five first-place prizes in the 2021 Mid-Hudson Regional Business Plan Competition, besting peers from colleges and universities in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester Counties.

The triumphant performance comes as the School of Business prepares to launch a new undergraduate major in Entrepreneurship, extending its growth as a leader in the Hudson Valley venture economy and start-up ecosystem.

This year’s competition, held virtually on April 16, required students to work in teams pitching their business ventures to judges in various categories, including a Shark-Tank style Q&A in which the judges pressed them on their plans and details.

It’s a culmination of a full year of work for these students, who with guidance from Lecturer Chris Napolitano have formulated plans from scratch, produced reports and perfected their pitch ahead of an intense competition against other young entrepreneurs from regional public and private colleges.

New Paltz teams won in the Software & Services, Consumer & Business Products, Infrastructure, First Responder & Response and Education & Well-Being categories. The full list of first-place students can be found below.

These teams will advance to the statewide competition on May 7.

Learn more here about the SUNY New Paltz School of Business and the Mid-Hudson Regional Business Plan Competition.


Winning teams:

“Vim” (Software & Services)

Battersby, Colin
Brahmbhatt, Prem
Hansen, Nicholas
Koithara, Merin
Monroy, Matthew

Compact Kitchen (Consumer & Business Products)

Bianchetta, Nicolas
DeGilio-Moscato, Antonio
Dougherty, Jake
Pulz, Kaden
Ramirez, Gisselle
Schadoff, Allie

UnTAPPED (Infrastructure, First Responder & Response)

Bauer, Noah
Cerven, Sean
Hennessy, James
Russo, Jennifer
Villella, Dean

Notify (Education & Well-Being)

Ballard, Amelia
Ostrow, Peter
Sedgi, Umit
Taha, Basil
Feng, Caitlin