Mercy University Entrepreneurship Program Inspires Future Innovators

This Spring, Mercy University’s School of Business hosted its 5th Annual Student-Preneur Conference to inspire future innovators. Sponsored by the Beba Innovation & Entrepreneurship Foundation, the event featured guest speakers, an entrepreneurial alliance panel, an entrepreneur expo, and the business plan competition finale, during which students got to display their business acumen.

“Our job is to prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs, so they can go on to help solve problems because that is what entrepreneurship is all about,” said Victor Petenkemani, interim dean of the School of Business. “Thank you, Professor Robert Bohn for leading this fantastic initiative along with our wonderful team in the School of Business.”

The event drew more than 180 attendees, including students, faculty, and staff, who participated in person at the Westchester campus and virtually. Students from local high schools, including Lincoln High School in Yonkers, New York, also got the chance to participate for the second year in a row.

This year’s keynote speaker was Mercy alum Andrew Boryk ’17, co-founder of Lunchbox, a company that empowers restaurants by helping them build their own online ordering platforms. Featured in Forbes “30 Under 30” for being one of the brightest young entrepreneurs, Boryk’s passion for digital business began while he was still a student at Mercy.

“I benefited so much from the incredible networking opportunities and internships I received at Mercy,” said Boryk. “What you’re getting here is a well-rounded foundation in business, and you are building upon the skillset of knowing and getting the exposure of finding where you want to go.”

His advice to the students in the room, “always be open and embrace the unconventional, don’t create your own “no’s” in your head; it takes perseverance and grit, build a great team with the people who will run towards the fire and motivate each other, and always be willing to learn.”

The event also included an entrepreneurial alliance panel headed by Elena Rivera-Cheek, founder and CEO of C&A Digital, a leading Westchester-based strategic communications and consulting agency. She highlighted the importance of networking to build connections and recommended gaining some experience before attempting to start your own business. “Learn on a company, let them show you the way, and then start your own thing,” she added.

The day concluded with the anticipated Business Plan Competition Finale. Robert F. Bohn, Director of Mercy’s Entrepreneurship programs and the conference organizer, noted that this year, they had an unprecedented number of competitors thanks to the expansion of the contest to all students. “For the first time, we had cross-functional teams with students who come from different Schools and academic programs, making the competition a university wide engagement,” added Bohn. The competition drew students from finance, management, marketing, entrepreneurship, accounting, mental health counseling, health science, sport management and journalism.

Five student teams presented their business ideas to a panel of judges comprised of Boryk, Rivera-Cheek, Mercy Trustee Phillip Grant, M.B.A. ’08, CEO, Hunts Point Produce Market; Umran Beba, M.B.A., H.D. ’22 co-founder of the Beba Innovation and Entrepreneurship Foundation and Korhan Beba, its executive director and 2022 competition winner Tereva Bundy, M.S. '22, who has since successfully launched her online tutoring business.

The finalists were Simon Steffensen '25, Jaid Wazihullah '25, Paal Andreas Furuseth '24 with Friendly, an application to help find roommates, rooms and apartments in Europe; Isabella Masala '26, Evanice Garrisi '24, Alyssa Gonzalez '24 with MindFit, a place that combines exercise and mental health resources; Joey Dos Santos '25, Eirick Elvestad '24, Jorgen Krohn-Pettersen '25 with Rescue-Ready VR, a virtual reality application that offers in-depth training for emergency medical technicians and nurses; Alyssa Politi '24 with Self-Scent, a company that lets you personalize the scent of your perfume; and Mason Gifford '26, Olga Ineza '27 and Sophia Resolme '26 with Trace, a discrete, radio-frequency tracking sticker.

After much deliberation, the judges declared the winners. First place went to the team at Trace, who received a $4,500 prize. Second place went to Self-Scent and Rescue-Ready VR came in third place.

“It is so rewarding,” said Gifford about winning as a team. “Meeting night in and night out. It taught us a lot about time management.” Ineza added, “What we learned was to make the solution happen, and we came up with Trace.”

When asked what their inspiration was for the product, Resolme said, “We are constantly losing stuff. It seemed trivial but once we dove into it and saw stats, we thought it was a great idea.” To which, Ineza added, “We’d love to invest in a prototype.”

The winning team will represent Mercy University at the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization’s 41st Annual Global Conference and Pitch Competition, which will be held from October 31 - November 2, 2024, in Tampa, FL.

For Margaret Ennin, a sophomore at Lincoln High School, attending the conference was truly inspiring. “Our generation can change the world, and this taught me the opportunities we have as entrepreneurs to change the world.”

"We look forward to Mercy University’s 6th Annual Student Preneur Conference next year. Our School of Business thanks the Beba Innovation & Entrepreneurship Foundation for their continued support to our students. Their commitment to Mercy University, and for their overall invaluable contribution, to the competition, and to the school, over the years, is vital to our future growth," concluded Bohn.

First place winners: Sophia Resolme, Mason Gifford and Olga Ineza with Trace