Del Val’s Entrepreneurship Honors students took first place at the Virtual Enterprises’ Central NJ Business Plan Competition and Trade Show at Fairleigh Dickinson University on Jan. 15.
In this competition, the academy’s representatives consisted of seniors Jake Cooke, Marco Nassi and Tyler Scherer; and juniors Oscar Arrieta and Adrian Poloskei.
“The event itself was a combination of competitive events, one was the business plan presentation, the other was the sales pitch presentation,” Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century teacher and advisor for trip Joseph Perricone said. “We also had the opportunity to set up a trade show table, and we had business and revenue from our products at the trade show.”
Because it was the first time they competed, planning and preparation going into the competition left the participants anxious.
“Going into the competition I was pretty nervous, considering it was the first time representing our company in an event like this,” Nassi said. “We worked really hard to make our booth look as professional and captivating as possible.”
As well as being anxious for the competition, the representatives were also not expecting their victory.
“We were not expecting to win this competition since it was our first time, and were trying to have a realistic mindset,” Nassi said. “Winning was really nice, especially since it was not expected.”
As a result of their success, the team not only plans to compete next year, but they also want to attend more competitions in the near future.
“We will be competing again next year, but we have another competition this year, which is the International Trade Show in New York City at the Javits Center, and that’s coming up in April,” Perricone said.
Perricone expressed his pride in the Del Val Business Academy for the dedication students have inputted to make it the best it can be.
“I’m really proud of Del Val [for] allowing us to have the entrepreneur class,” Perricone said. “It’s the anchor or the pinnacle point of the business academy, and I feel like a lot of students that have put in the hard work in the last four years have the right to actually open up their business at the high school level and compete at these events.”
