On April 22, Mercy College hosted the 2nd Annual Student-Preneur Conference and Business Plan Competition, which promoted Mercy’s student entrepreneurs — or “Student-Preneurs” — and gave them an opportunity to learn from seasoned business owners. Approximately 100 Mercy students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members attended the virtual conference.
Though the conference was held live in 2019, this year’s event was virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hosted on the Hopin platform, the event simulated a live conference with an expo area, networking and even a DJ playing between sessions. Event sessions included a panel of entrepreneurs, a panel of Mercy student entrepreneurs, a keynote address by entrepreneur and business coach Lucinda Cross ’14 and the final round of the Business Plan Competition.
“It was really cool listening to the panel speakers and the keynote speaker talk about their businesses, their life experiences and words of wisdom,” said Ryan Miglio ’22 , who is majoring in business administration and entrepreneurship with a minor in international relations. “I did miss the experience of being at a conference in person, but this was a great substitute.”
Scorpio Rogers — the assistant dean and assistant professor in the School of Business who created the Student-Preneur Conference — was particularly excited for the Business Plan Competition. "As a society, we're competitive, so we always like to see who wins," he laughed. School of Business professors offered optional weekly sessions between October and April to help students prepare for the competition, and Rogers reported that participants significantly improved their business plans over the six months.
Tasnimah Rahman ’23, a finance major, won first place in the Business Plan Competition and a $1500 prize after pitching MealCheck, a technology-supported system that enables restaurants to create personalized, healthy meals for diners. She also won the 2020 Business Plan Competition after pitching a specialized skin cream company. “Professor Rogers has always said that it’s what you do that makes your college experience, so I want to take as many risks as I can,” she explained. “That’s why I signed up for the Business Plan Competition last year and why I’m back again this year. I’m so glad I took advantage of the opportunity.”
Miglio and Kaycee Moreno ’22 won third prize and a $500 prize after pitching Lavish Liquors, a company that customizes glass bottles such as wine bottles to both create keepsakes and reduce glass pollution. In preparation for presenting their business plan, he and Moreno watched episodes of ABC’s “Shark Tank” to see what kinds of questions investors asked entrepreneurs about their company or product. They noted good questions and made sure to have answers prepared for the competition.
Rogers looks forward to hosting the Student-Preneur Conference again in person next year. In addition to expanding the audience to reach more Mercy students, he hopes to attract more high school students. This year’s audience included two classes of students from the Academy of Finance at Lincoln High School in Yonkers, New York, and Rogers believes that the conference is a great way to expose high schoolers to business, entrepreneurship and Mercy College in general.
Rahman, for one, plans to attend the conference again next year. When asked if she would pitch another business to enter the Business Plan Competition for the third year in a row, she said, “I’m going to go for it! Taking risks always gets me somewhere.”