NCPA Foundation announces Pruitt-Schutte business plan competition winners
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The National Community Pharmacists Association this week announced the winners of its 2015 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition.
The top honor went to a team of pharmacy students from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy. The runner-up was the team from South Carolina School of Pharmacy –USC, and the second runner-up was the team from University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
The competition, named for to longtime champions of independent pharmacy — Neil Pruitt, Sr. and H. Joseph Schutte, is aimed at motivating pharmacy students to create a business model for either buying an existing community pharmacy or opening a new one.
“The [competition] empowers aspiring pharmacy owners to have carefully-crafted plans evaluated by a panel of experts,” NCPA President John T. Sherrer said. “Many past participants have become pharmacy owners and often cite the competition as being indispensable to their success.”
The three finalists made live presentations of their business plans at the NCPA’s annual convention, and the winner was announced at the NCPA Foundation’s Award Ceremony on Sunday afternoon. The winners received $3,000 and $3,000 was donated to the school in the dean’s name. The first and second runners-up received $2,000 and $1,000, respectively, and donations of $2,000 and $1,000, respectively, were donated in the deans’ names.
“The NCPA Foundation mission is to ensure the next generation of independent community pharmacists has the tools to realize their dreams, and nothing better encapsulates that commitment than the … competition," NCPA Foundation president Sharlea Leatherwood said. “The participants work extraordinarily hard to produce the best business plans possible and the judges always have a challenge picking a winning team. This year’s winner the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy submitted a brilliant plan and gave an extraordinary live presentation.”