Local High School Students Compete in Junior Achievement of New York's First-Ever...

Local High School Students Compete in Junior Achievement of New York's
First-Ever Business Plan Competition
New York City High School Students Learn the Importance of Entrepreneurialism
in a Global Economy

NEW YORK, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesterday, Monday, May 19, aspiring
student entrepreneurs from six New York City area high schools competed in a
city-wide final competition of the first Junior Achievement of New York (JANY)
Business Plan Competition sponsored by G.C. Andersen Partners LLC. The event
took place at Columbia Business School from 10am-3pm. The competition was
designed to engage students in entrepreneurial thinking and cultivate their
interest in business entrepreneurialism as a successful path to economic and
social empowerment.
Six student finalist teams pitched innovative business plans to a
prestigious panel of business experts and entrepreneurs. Plans were judged
using criteria to measure the merit and strength of the idea, the innovation
and feasibility of the plan and the strength of each team's presentation. G.
Chris Andersen, JANY Board Member/JA Alum and Founding Partner of G.C.
Andersen Partners, LLC, provided the first and second place teams'
post-secondary school scholarship awards.
Students from Brooklyn Tech HS were awarded the top prize for their
innovative web platform myCollegeSTAT.com. HSBC corporate volunteers were the
team advisors. myCollegeSTAT.com offers student users the benefit of learning
how and what helps their peers gain entrance to a particular college. The goal
of the Web site is to gather and archive user-generated intelligence that will
help students manage the complexity of the college admissions process.
Students from the winning Brooklyn Tech HS team, Awad Sayeed & Kyle Wong,
Co-CEOs, Izra Izrailov, VP of Finance, Charles Naut, VP of Technology and
Francesco Nuccio, VP of Marketing, are all seniors who plan to attend college
in the fall. They intend to launch the site within a few months.
"Winning the business plan competition showed us that entrepreneurship and
preparation is rewarded at any level. It has motivated us to take the next
step as entrepreneurs and finally start our business. Hearing the feedback
from the judges gave us new information that will help us in this process,"
said Kyle Wong. Each student winner received awards of $3,000 and a Rising
Star of Enterprise trophy for their school.
Students from Baruch College Campus HS and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis HS
shared second place honors with their business plan ideas for a voice
recognition portable language translator device and a merging of fashion and
technology with the H2 headset device, respectively. Each of the second place
teams received Rising Stars of Enterprise trophies for their schools and each
team member was awarded a $1,300 scholarship. PricewaterhouseCoopers corporate
volunteers advised both teams.
"The JANY Business Plan Competition brings these remarkable students and
their unique ideas together with dynamic business leaders. Through the
generous support of our sponsor, G.C. Andersen Partners, the goal of this
competition is to open up the minds of young people to their limitless
potential by helping them dream bigger dreams," said Doug Schallau, president
of Junior Achievement of New York.
Over an eight-week period, each school was partnered with corporate
volunteer advisors from Citi, HSBC, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Drawing
on their own experiences in the corporate world, the volunteers helped
students develop business plans for an innovative product or service,
including a company description, mission, marketing strategy and financial
plan. An initial round of competition produced one team from each of the
participating schools to compete in the final citywide competition.
"We're committed to making education relevant to young people. Our goal is
to connect education, inspiration and ingenuity with opportunity and access in
the business world to prepare young people to compete successfully in a global
economy," said Chris Andersen.
Nearly three hundred students participated from Brooklyn Technical High
School in Brooklyn, Long Island City High School in Astoria, and Graphic
Communication Arts High School, The High School of Art & Design, Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis High School and Baruch College Campus High School in
Manhattan.
The panel of judges included G. Chris Andersen, Founding Partner, G.C.
Andersen Partners, LLC; Tony Viscogliosi, Principal, Viscogliosi Bro., LLC;
Tom Blum, Partner, G.C. Andersen Partners, LLC; Fred Nazem, Managing Partner,
Nazem and Company; Sharon Joseph, President and CEO Harlem Lanes, Columbia
University Business School Alum/JANY Alum and entrepreneur; and Michael
Erlich, Professor of Finance at the School of Management, New Jersey Institute
of Technology.
Clifford Schorer, Entrepreneur in Residence/Adjunct Professor for The
Entrepreneurship Program -- Columbia Business School, commented, "The Junior
Achievement Business Plan Competition is an example of entrepreneurialism in
action. By providing young people with a forum to engage in real world
business experiences, Junior Achievement is providing a greenhouse environment
to nurture the next generation of business leaders and innovators."
JANY programs are designed to inspire young adults by creating educational
opportunities for New York City students that are grounded in real world
experiences. The business plan competition highlights the importance of
entrepreneurial thinking as an important skill to develop innovative and
creative solutions for solving everyday problems. Moreover, JANY's programs
help prepare students to be successful in a global economy and promote
entrepreneurship that creates jobs and wealth.
About Junior Achievement of New York, Inc.
Founded in 1929, Junior Achievement of New York, Inc. (JANY) is the New
York affiliate of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world's largest and
fastest-growing organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people
to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JANY
provides in-school and after-school programs for students in grades K-12.
JANY's educational programs focus on three key content areas -- The Three
Pillars of Student Success: financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work
readiness. Last academic year, JANY's in-school and after-school programs
served nearly 100,000 students in the NYC and Long Island geographic area.
Today, Junior Achievement Worldwide reaches approximately 8 million students
globally. For more information, visit www.jany.org.
Junior Achievement Worldwide is a partner organization of the Kauffman
Foundation. The Kauffman Foundation is working to further understand the
phenomenon of entrepreneurship, to advance entrepreneurship education and
training efforts, to promote entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and to better
facilitate the commercialization of new technologies by entrepreneurs and
others which have great promise for improving the economic welfare of our
nation.
About G.C. Andersen Partners, LLC
G.C. Andersen Partners, LLC is a premier, New York City based boutique
merchant bank that advises and invests in emerging growth and middle market
companies, with a special emphasis on the alternative energy and clean tech
sectors.
The firm was founded in 1996 by G. Chris Andersen, a former Vice Chairman
of PaineWebber and a former head of the Investment Banking Group at Drexel
Burnham Lambert. The six partners, five of whom were senior bankers at
Drexel, have an average of over 25 years of investment banking and principal
investing experience and have worked together extensively over their careers.
During their careers, the partners and professionals, acting as both agents
and principals, have consummated hundreds of transactions, representing over
$100 billion in value.
In contrast to most boutique investment banks, the firm is structured as a
merchant bank and can serve as both an advisor to and an investor in its
clients. We take pride in and are recognized for developing creative
solutions, providing unparalleled service and getting the difficult deals
done.
Media Contact: Junior Achievement of New York, Inc.
Jacqueline Dolly
212-907-0046
jdolly@jany.org

SOURCE Junior Achievement of New York, Inc.

Jacqueline Dolly of Junior Achievement of New York, Inc., +1-212-907-0046, or
jdolly@jany.org