"One Year Later, Carter Still on 'First Track'"
By EVAN PARKER PIERCE | Nov. 24, 2003As the competition for the next Panasci Awards kicked off last week, last year's winner of the $25,000 prize says the company he started with the award is poised for growth.Scott Carter, who won last year's top prize, spoke Wednesday to potential Panasci competitors at Jacobs Management Center to give an account of his experiences with First Tracks, Inc.The awards, sponsored by the School of Management's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, grant $40,000 of startup capital to two UB graduates who are starting a local business.Carter, a 2002 graduate of the School of Management whose undergraduate degree was in chemical engineering, said that he encourages potential entrants to stick with their ideas but to expect the unexpected."I'd tell potential entrants to find a good idea -- something that's needed -- and think big and be flexible," he said.Carter's "good idea" was First Tracks, Inc., which is early literacy monitoring and reporting software that allows elementary school teachers and administrators to monitor their students' progress.According to Carter, it is based on the Internet, and it enables teachers and administrators to track and report on the progress of students on many different levels, from an individual level all the way to a district-wide level.The new national Reading First program, part of the "No Child Left Behind" initiative signed by President George W.
