Burlington County chooses Future Start-Up Stars at final business plan competition on Feb. 20

The search is almost over for Burlington County College’s Future Start-Up Star, a business plan contest for aspiring entrepreneurs sponsored by Burlington County College (BCC), the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders and TD Bank. Six finalists were chosen to present their business plans in front of a panel of judges on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Culinary Arts Center at BCC, 21 Mill Street.

“The Start-Up Stars competition is a great way to showcase the ingenuity of our students and military in Burlington County,” said Burlington County Freeholder Director Leah Arter. “We want to encourage young people, as well as veterans, to stay in Burlington County where we have many great resources that can help them successfully build their business. These future entrepreneurs have the power to create job opportunities.”

More than 20 entries have been whittled down to two finalists in each category: BCC student, Burlington County high school student and military/veteran.

Two teams of Lenape Regional High School District students have made it to the final rounds. The first team is Connor Gross, Stefani Rosenburg, Max Haggerty and Codi Smith and the second team is Peter Kaz, Jimmy Jenkins, Brandon Bryne and Anthony Diorio. The BCC student finalists are Russell Jones, of Willingboro, and the team of Jessica Hunter, of Willingboro, and Nathan Aydelotte, of Cinnaminson. Terri Bell, of Fort Dix, and Thomas Flanigan, of Cherry Hill, are the finalists representing the military division.

Finalists will present their business plans to a panel of seven judges, including the following: Leah Arter, Burlington County Freeholder Director; Barry Williams, BCC Foundation Chair and Senior Director of Indirect Channel Sales at Comcast; Chuck Sacco, Entrepreneur in Residence and Director of External Relations at Drexel University Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship; Tony Mahon, BCC Foundation Vice-Chair and President of AJM Insurance; Paul Nelson, Private Investor/Entrepreneur; Paul J. Weaver, Senior Associate at RLS Associates and Principal at Lmark Business Solutions; and Joseph P. Tredinnick, Senior Vice President, Regional Vice President at TD Bank, N.A. (Mercer, Burlington, and Camden Counties).

The evening also features refreshments and special presentations by Frank Keith, Director of Business Incubation and Economic Development at BCC, and Wayne Hileman, Founder of Burlington Automotive.

After the judges deliberate, a winner in each category will be announced by Freeholder Director Arter and presented with their prizes, which includes cash courtesy of TD Bank.

For more information on the contest or the panel of judges, please visit www.bcc.edu/StartUpStar.