Innovative Business Students Place in SUNY Canton Entrepreneurial Challenge

SUNY Canton students provided valuable consulting services for an established business during the college’s “Roopreneur” entrepreneurial challenge.

Roopreneur is an annual competition to help students develop innovative answers to real-world challenges businesses face, according to Professor Charles R. Fenner, Ph.D., who is the lead faculty member in the four-year Management program. This year’s challenge was to research and outline a plan to help college partner Day & Nite All Service develop a membership business model.

“Students are not hindered by premises that may or may not work in a particular business,” Fenner said. “In this case, having limited experience can be advantageous for developing new and innovative ideas.”

Day & Nite is a commercial refrigeration, kitchen equipment, HVAC, plumbing installation, maintenance, and emergency repair company located in New Hyde Park. It is one of the college’s top allies and sponsors educational endeavors and scholarships, in addition to hiring its graduates.

“Every company strives to find and maintain an innovative edge,” said Day & Nite Chief Operating Officer Michael A. Berman. “Roopreneur participants consistently proved to be every bit as insightful as the most notable consultants and as pragmatic as the most respected operational subject matter experts. Any company serious about finding innovative competitive advantages would be well served to participate in future challenges.”

At the end of the competition, Berman, Fenner and SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran discussed the challenge with student participants.

“Entrepreneurship is a growing area at SUNY Canton,” Szafran said. “We want our graduates to be both sought after in the workforce and fully prepared to create their own businesses.”

Of the more than 30 participants, six finalists were selected based on their presentations. Each student won a cash prize and are eligible for a priority job interview with Day & Nite.

Winning students in order of their finish are:

• Keegan J. Perretta, a Management major from Black River.
• Ashton L. Summors, a Management major from Brooklyn.
• Conner M. Flynn, a Finance major from Chateaugay.
• Brandi Magney, a Management major from Orchard Park.
• Perry Fogweh Nchang Doh, a Management major and an international student from Cameroon. 
• Anthony Figueroa, an Industrial Technology Management major from the Bronx. Figueroa currently holds an internship position with Day & Nite.