NECC Announces Business Plan Competition Winners
Northern Essex Community College students competed for over $2000 in scholarship awards and a Dell tablet in the college’s fifth Annual Business Plan Competition.
A team of two, Patricia Ketabchi, a business management major from Newburyport, and Philip Marquardo, a business management major from Haverhill, won the competition, walking away with a $1000 scholarship for their plan for Hunter’s Creek. Their business plan offers retiree housing that provides employment opportunities onsite for the residents. These onsite businesses will allow residents to earn an income that can be used for their own expenses or can help offset some of their living costs.
Kim Dobbs, a business management major from Haverhill, received second place and a $600 scholarship for her plan for an eco-friendly artisan gallery called Creations of Simple Elegance.
Third place, and a $450 scholarship went to a three-person team including Kymberly Codair, a business management major from West Newbury; Olivia Hasham, a business transfer major from Merrimac; and Katherine Jaime, a business transfer student from Lawrence, MA, for their Care Connections business plan, which provides care to elders in the comfort of their own home.
Kymberly Codair, who was chosen as the college’s top entrepreneurial student, received a Dell tablet donated by Dell in addition to her scholarship.
Students in the competition are enrolled in or have completed Professor Bill Zannini’s popular “Introduction to Entrepreneurship” course, which is offered days, evenings, online, and in the summer. The top six plans were chosen for the presentation. Each entrepreneur had 12 minutes to present their plan, followed by three to five minutes of questions from the judges.
This event is sponsored by Dell Computer, Inc., the NECC Business Program Advisory Committee, the NECC Foundation, Inc., and the NECC Office of Institutional Development.
To learn more, contact Bill Zannini at bzannini@necc.mass.edu or 978 556-3369.
NECC offers four associate degrees in business including: Accounting, Business Management, Business Management: Computer Applications, and Business Transfer.