SU Students Compete for $5,000 Bernstein Award
SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University’s 2011 Bernstein Achievement Award finalists are creating new businesses—and competing for a top prize of $5,000.
“I am thrilled with the breadth of preparation they bring to the competition,” said Dr. Stephen Adams, who teaches entrepreneurship in SU’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business and is director of the Bernstein Awards. “Our ‘fundable four’ embody an important lesson: There is far more than one path to entrepreneurial success!”
Senior John Stockel, a management major and finance minor, was selected for RiteTrak, a proposed bike rental service for North American universities. Based on bike-sharing programs he witnessed while studying abroad in Paris and London, he created the company with his fiancé Emilie Godard, who earned an M.B.A. from SU in 2009.
The company A Simple Solution was developed by Syed Rahman, an SU student from Bethesda, MD, in partnership with Fuad Balashov, a student at the University of Maryland, College Park. They plan to design a new retractable bike lock that is more compact, portable and reliable than current market models.
Christopher Maxa of Berlin, MD, who is pursuing a master’s in GIS management, created Maxa GIS Consulting, to help small and medium sized organizations use geographic information systems technology.
Repeat finalist John Kline, a senior marketing and information systems major from Rockville, MD, developed Atmosphere Improvement and Renewal (AIR) Lawn Care. He wants to provide environmentally-friendly and sustainable residential landscaping services.
The finalists present their plans 2–5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in Holloway Hall, Room 114. The presentations are free and the public is invited. The winner will be announced at a reception that evening.
The 2011 judges are: Warren Citrin of Glotocorp; Hayley Gallagher of Maryland Capital Enterprises, Dr. David Hill of Easton Bank and Trust, and Dan O’Connell of PKS & Company, P.A.
The Bernstein Achievement Award was launched in 1987 by local entrepreneur and SU alumnus Richard Bernstein (’76), founder of BAI Aerosystems, Inc. in Easton and K&L Microwave, Inc. in Salisbury. He created the competition to recognize students who develop original, well-researched and potentially successful proposals for a business startup or for the transformation of an existing business.
The award is designed to encourage young entrepreneurs to move forward with their visions. SU graduate and undergraduate students in all programs may participate. Several award winners have gone on to operate successful businesses.
For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.