‘Main event’ of 2005 student business plan competition to take place April 23

‘Main event’ of 2005 student business plan competitionto take place April 23April 21, 2005Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

The final round of the fourth annual Syracuse Panasci Business Plan Competition will occur Saturday, April 23, at 1:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The competition, named for the late Henry A. Panasci Jr., is a campus-wide contest open to any individual or student team at Syracuse University. In Saturday’s finale, four finalist teams will vie for a combined $40,000 in prize money to help transform their plans into reality.

Panasci, a prolific local entrepreneur and trustee of the University, died on April 17. His $1 million gift to the University made the competition awards possible.

The competition is hosted by the program in Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises (EEE) in the Whitman School. Throughout the course of the four-month competition, contestants have participated in business plan help sessions and received mentoring from EEE faculty. Judges will award the first- ($25,000), second- ($10,000) and third-place ($5,000) awards to the teams whose new venture ideas show the greatest potential for growth and ability to attract outside financing.

This event is free and open to the public. Paid parking will be available in visitor lots. For more information on the competition, contact Shelly Taylor at (315) 443-3550 or sltayl03@syr.edu .

Panasci founded and served as chair and CEO of Fay’s, Inc., one of the nation’s largest retail drugstore chains. He later founded Cygnus Management Group, a venture capital consulting firm. In addition to his business endeavors, Panasci dedicated his time and resources to public service and supporting the arts.