The new Pettis Business Idea Competition has been launched at the SUNY Brockport School of Business and Management. Supported by the Pettis Family, longtime business owners of Pettis Pools in the Rochester area, the newly designed competition allows SUNY Brockport students from the whole campus to submit their business ideas for a chance to win up to $2,500 in prize money provided by the Pettis family.
“This great business competition has been updated to be more accessible to students who are earlier in their academic journey in business, and also students who are majoring in other programs,” said Michael Doyle, Interim Dean of the School.
“We’ve made the competition more about the business idea, and less about the written plan,” said Mayank Jaiswal, assistant professor of business/entrepreneurship. Dr. Jaiswal likens the current competition to the long-running television show Shark Tank. Working with Dr. Savisesh Malampallayil, assistant professor of marketing, they created a short explainer video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBEPn_MXSuA) to help students without a business education enter the contest. “We see the development of the business idea, focused on the marketplace needs to be a key component to new business startups,” commented Dr. Jaiswal.
Dr. Malampallayil commented, “So many students want to start their own business, and our goal is to be an incubator on those early ideas, and help students get started.”
First round submissions are due via Mach form by March 29. Local business owners and business advisors from the Brockport Small Business Development Center will act as judges. Finalists will be selected to present to the judging panel on Scholars Day, April 15, in McCue Auditorium. For the first time this year, the audience can vote on their favorites, which will count toward the final scores.
SUNY Brockport students wishing to enter the competition can do so at https://forms.brockport.edu/view.php?id=7891387.
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