First Posted: 4/29/2015
DALLAS TWP. — High school students from Pittston Area and Old Forge called themselves entrepreneurs for a day.
An entrepreneur, by definition, is a person who organizes and operates a business or business, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.
The students traveled to Dallas High School on April 29 to compete in an Entrepreneurship Challenge against each other and students from Dallas High School as well.
A total of 10 groups presented, which included six from Dallas, three from Pittston and one from Old Forge.
Each group took turns presenting their ideas to a panel of judges who decided first, second and third place winners by their overall presentation, creativity with their product idea and research on how the product would benefit society.
Judges included Mark Graziadio, vice president of the Honesdale National Bank; Vincent Rocco, of The University of Scranton; and Dave Simpson, president of Diamond Manufacturing.
First place prize was a $300 reward, second place a $200 reward and third place a $100 reward. The money was distributed evenly amongst the winning students to use however they wished.
According to Bonnie Blair, assistant vice president for EconomicsPennsylvania , the challenge was part two of a two-part event.
“The first event, they came about six weeks ago to Misericordia (University) and professors there taught them how to take their idea… and develop it into an actual business plan, going over the product, how to develop it, market who their target audience would be and finances,” said Blair. “They then go home and work on these in teams, develop a prototype or PowerPoint presentation, and today they are presenting those plans in front of a panel of judges.”
The first place winner was a Pittston Area group who gave a presentation on electronic recycling for their business called “C.S. Recycling.” Second place was another Pittston Area group for their business called “Roamə,” which focused on tracking bracelets for children using Bluetooth, and third place was a Dallas High School group for their business “Glam-Me-Down,” which focused on donating and recycling old clothes.
C.S. Recycling entrepreneurs were seniors Chris McGlynn, 18; David Pacovsky, 17, and junior Mark Naples.
“It was a group effort we’ve been talking about for a while and we collaborated on a lot of different ideas before finally settling on this,” said McGlynn.
The presentation focused on collecting old electronics and recycling them into environmental friendly materials. Pacovsky said there was nearly 50 hours worth of research done and calls were made to multiple municipalities, recycling centers and even places in Japan.
One of the aspects of the presentation was the detailed graphic designs for the company logo and as well as the design on the website done by McGlynn.
“It wouldn’t be possible without him,” said Pacovsky.
Although the three students have a nice amount of change to add to their wallets, the biggest reward they received was the learning experience.
“Just getting a taste for what it’s like to actually try and start a business and all the numbers behind it,” said Naples. “It’s no easy task.”
When asked what they would do with their prize money, the students said they were unsure at the moment.
“Maybe use it for gas money,” joked Pacovsky.
Although they did not win an award, the Old Forge students consisting of juniors Mercade Harding, 16; Brianna Cornell, 17; Kailin Snyder, 17; and Alicia Santarsiero, 17, gave a strong effort with their presentation on a business called Pop Shop, a customizable soda shop.
“We also offer tea, water and coffee,” said Snyder. “The customer can come in and add however many simply syrups they may like and whatever flavor they would like.”
The idea came after Snyder and Harding did a similar presentation a few weeks ago on only certain soda flavors but Cornell made the suggestion of making the sodas customizable instead.
The research the girls did involved a lot of pricing on rent for a building as well as nutrition to make sure the ingredients for their soda syrup contained healthy ingredients.
Although the Old Forge students did not place, the effort they gave was a reward all in its own.
“I think it was harder,” said Harding. “We’re only high school students; we certainly haven’t gotten out in the real world yet. But, I think that was hardest part — trying to agree on everything and working with each other. It really taught us a lesson to just get down to business and not worry about the little things until the very end.”
