The third time's the charm for a winning team of four female students that represented UB's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SOPPS) at this year's National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition.
After a highly selective process, the team beat out 32 submissions to secure a spot in the final competition in Anaheim, California. The group went on to win the competition with their detailed and comprehensive business plan.
The team's members are all class of 2008 pharmacy students: Kathryn Jones, Alexandra Centeno, Christina Ramsay and Liliana Yohonn.
This is the team's third time participating at the NCPA competition. The product of their months of hard work was a nearly 200-page business plan, which focused on the pharmaceutical needs of women.
"It's an all-woman pharmacy geared for women's issues because it's a huge market," said team captain Kathryn Jones. "They may come to us rather than another pharmacy."
According to Karl D. Fiebelkorn, assistant dean for student affairs and professional relations, most universities in the competition had 50-page plans.
"They did a survey, location analysis, even located at the population density, demographics, average household size and income," Fiebelkorn said. "They exhausted all resources for this business plan."
Their detailed business plan gave the students an advantage in competing against schools such as Washington State University and the University of Washington. According to Jones, the process was difficult, but was worth it.
"Even something extra like this is great for your resume, future projects, college and (it's) a learning experience," Jones said.
Jones noted that participating in the competition was a great opportunity for getting their plan recognized by investors.
"It's definitely an element of pride for UB," Jones said. "This is a national competition; investors were there. This puts UB on the map for all of them."
According to Fiebelkorn, the students do not receive college credit for it but they get other rewards, which include $3,000 for the School of Pharmacy to promote pharmacy practice, $3,000 for the school's chapter of the NCPA, as well as a trip to Cancun, Mexico. The four students, the dean of the School of Pharmacy and others assisting in the project will travel to Mexico next February.
"The Cancun trip makes the process worth it," Jones said. "Being able to go to Cancun is going to be something to enjoy and a networking opportunity," she said.
The members were excited to come back to UB with a first place award.
"This is something UB hasn't done," Jones said. "Coming back to Buffalo, you have a sense of pride that you've done well in a competition like this."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
