Competition News
2024 Competition
2024 Student Entrepreneurship Competition Winners
Senior computer science major Sean Berndlmaier navigated his way to the top during ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½’s 37th annual student Entrepreneurship Competitions.
His business plan, IndoorNav Pro, earned a $19,125 total prize package. It included the $15,000 Richard A. Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence, named in honor of the competition’s founder and sponsored by LWRC International and Rommel Chesapeake; the M&T Bank-sponsored $2,500 first place in the second round of the competition’s “Gull Cage” Shark Tank-style elevator pitch to local business leaders; the $625 Concept Conqueror Award for best prototype, sponsored by ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½’s Dave and Patsy Rommel Center for Entrepreneurship; and $1,000 from the competition’s initial “Invest in My Idea” round.
IndoorNav Pro is a mapping solutions provider that will use blueprints, floor plans and building plan digital integration to help guests navigate public spaces such as college campuses, shopping malls, athletic venues, convention centers and more.
2023 Competition
2023 Student Entrepreneurship Competition Winners
SALISBURY, MD---For the second time in 36 years, tacos won the day at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½’s annual student Entrepreneurship Competitions.
On the eve of Cinco de Mayo, judges voted the student business plan for Tacos Del Mar, a Mexican-inspired catering company, as the best out of 59 entries in the 2023 contest — the most in ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ history.
The proposal echoed one of the competition’s earliest winners, Peter Engler, whose entry in 1989 led to the establishment of Nacho Pete’s a popular fast-casual Mexican restaurant in ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ in the 1990s.
2022 Competition
2022 Student Entrepreneurship Competition Winners
SALISBURY, MD---When junior art major Carleigh Stokes moved from Elkridge, MD, to the Eastern Shore to attend ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ in 2019, she decided to use her proximity to the beach resort of Ocean City, MD, to pursue a new hobby: surfing.
She could not have imagined then that her passion for catching waves would result in her winning more than $19,500 in cash and prizes during ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½’s annual Franklin P. Perdue School of Business Entrepreneurship Competitions for ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ students, sponsored by M&T Bank.
2021 Competition
2021 Student Entrepreneurship Competition Winners
SALISBURY, MD---On the Delmarva Peninsula, boat owners are a huge clientele base.
ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ marketing major Johnathan Howell of Berlin, MD, has already begun delving into that market with his Ocean City, MD-based business Howell’s Dockside Services, specializing in boat detailing and preparation, including bottom painting and winter preparation.
As this year’s winner of the $15,000 Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence, bestowed during the 34th annual Franklin P. Perdue School of Business Entrepreneurship Competitions for ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ students, he will be able to expand his company with a new vehicle and equipment.
2020 Competition
ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Entrepreneurship Events Go Virtual
ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business hosted its annual Student Entrepreneurship Competitions for students Friday, May 8, 2020 via Zoom.
Events included an “Invest in My Idea” poster and 1-minute prerecorded pitch session and a Shark Tank/Gull Cage round, during which students present “elevator” pitches to the judges via Zoom.
The top four finalists move on to the annual Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence competition, vying for a grand prize.
2019 Competition
Cameron Kane
Making gaming accessible to those with hearing impairments
$20,000 Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence
Cameron Kane is an avid gamer, computer science major and undergraduate researcher from ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½. Over the past year, he has been working on ways to improve the accessibility of the gaming experience, focusing first on audio. So far, Kane has conducted University grant-funded research and founded a new startup, Valkyrie Software Solutions, LLC, in the pursuit of making Universal Design features commonplace in the videogame Industry. In 2019, his business received the top prize the Bernstein Achievement Award of Excellence, taking home $21,000 in cash, awards and services. Kane works as an entrepreneurship consultant in the Hub and is a great resource for navigating who and where to go to for IP, business plan advice, technology assistance, research resources and general startup assistance.