College of Mount Saint Vincent Entrepreneur Honored with Marketsmith, Inc. Award
5/29/2008
Award Given for Most Original Business Plan
Riverdale, NY – Kaitlin Christi Burud, business major and graduating senior at the University of Mount Saint Vincent, has been honored with the first of its kind, the Marketsmith, Inc. Award for Entrepreneurship. The award is given to the student who produces what is judged to be the best original business plan from among those submitted that year. Ms. Burud was singled out for her in-depth proposal of a sports-themed day care center, All Star Day Care. She completed her project while enrolled in the College’s course in small business planning. Along with the accolades she also received a $5,000 prize.
The Marketsmith, Inc. Entrepreneurship Competition is open to students from all majors and promoted to the students throughout the academic year. Of the nineteen business plans submitted this year, seven were selected by professors from the business department as qualifying entries. Applicants must submit an original business proposal which is judged by a panel of three alumnae/i of the College. The panel identifies and evaluates 15 key points in the proposal such as profitability, growth potential for the target market, start-up costs, and originality.
The Marketsmith, Inc Award for Entrepreneurship is an annual $5,000 award endowed by Monica C. Smith, President and CEO of Marketsmith Inc., a multi-channel marketing company, and a 1990 graduate of the Mount. She saw the award as a way of promoting entrepreneurship among college students so that they would be inspired to start their own businesses.
According to Ms. Smith on the Martketsmith Inc. website, “My team and I wanted to provide the torque that would help set other young entrepreneurs into motion. My alma mater, the University of Mount Saint Vincent, was the perfect channel. The Mount is known for its propensity to lay great seeds for its students. So together with our endowment and the Mount’s first ever course offerings in entrepreneurship, we will have the great joy of watching these students in action and experience helping them take the next step to what we hope will be a lifetime of success.”
Burud’s sports-oriented childcare facility proposal is a vision of a day care center for children aged two through six and is tailored for the “active and athletically-inclined.” The plan describes the business’ operations, ideal location for the facility, daily activities and development programs available, appropriate staffing as well advertising and marketing plans. There is data to back up her proposal. Ms. Burud has some experience in athletics. As a shooting guard for the Mount’s basketball team, she has dedicated much of her young life to sport.