Career development concept wins business plan competition

A group of students in the School of Management recently earned $2,500 to start their new business venture. WiseResume.com - the brainchild of Jason Brandt, Mihir Desu, Jonathan Guerrera, Elliot Nasser and Hyunwoo Yoo - won the 16th Botnick Entrepreneurship Competition.

During the final round, which took place at the SOM on Dec. 7, the WiseResume.com team as well as three other finalists presented their business plans before a panel of judges who themselves have experience in running their own businesses. Competitors were students in Angelo Mastrangelo’s Entrepreneurship 460 and 560 combined class group.

WiseResume.com would fill the gap between on-campus career development centers and high-priced career coaches. If someone was looking for a job in finance, for example, Wise Resume.com would connect him or her with a professional who has experience critiquing resumes from other people working in finance.

“A lot of us can speak from experience that trying to reach out to people in our industry is a very time-consuming process, and (WiseResume.com) makes it a little easier,” Guerrera said during the presentation. “We offer subject-matter expertise at a low cost.”

WiseResume.com will earn another $2,500 if the company successfully operates in the Binghamton area for one year.

Finalists included:

Midnight Baker - the creation of Melissa Gomes, Anne Gole, Andrew Kneller, Carolyn Kost and Himalaya Rao-Potlapally - is a business that would offer organic and gluten-free baked goods in order to serve the growing consumer segment suffering with food allergies.

Adventurcise - a concept by Michele Gordon, Shirley Hu, Danielle Tanamy and Alan Yip - is a health and wellness program that would train instructors to go into schools and gyms to lead children in imaginative exercise sessions.

Practical Medical Management - with team members Arkadiy “David” Aloyts, Zachary Buckter, Andrew Lin and Andrea Smith - offered physicians a new concept for running their medical offices. The company would supply professional office managers to enable doctors to spend more time treating patients and less time completing paperwork.

Judges were: Ferris Akel ‘59, president of Giant Markets in Binghamton; Kevin Blake, owner of Integrated Computer Solutions in Endicott; Howard Eisen ‘87, managing director and co-founder of Fletcher Bennett, a New York-based hedge fund business development and consulting firm; and Jon Layish ‘91, owner and founder of Red Barn Computers in Binghamton.