ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 22, 2024) – The National Community Pharmacists Association and the NCPA Foundation are pleased to announce that teams of pharmacy students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Texas at Austin have been named finalists in the 2024 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. The three teams will present their business plans in a live competition on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at the NCPA Annual Convention in Columbus. The winning team will be announced on Sunday, Oct. 27, as part of the convention’s First General Session.
“Having a solid business plan in place makes it easier for pharmacy teams to address whatever challenges inevitably arise in the future,” said NCPA President Lea Wolsoncroft, RPh. “This competition helps pharmacy students feel confident in writing a thorough business plan now, so that they are better equipped as their careers progress. I’m proud of all teams participating in this year’s Student Business Plan Competition for their strong work and wish good luck to this year’s finalists at the live competition in October! We’re looking forward to seeing them present the plans they’ve been working so hard to design.”
Team members from final three schools will compete for the following first, second, and third place awards:
- First Place: $3,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $3,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
- Second Place: $2,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $2,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
- Third Place: $1,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $1,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
The Student Business Plan Competition, which is supported by Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company and the NCPA Foundation, is the first national competition of its kind in the pharmacy profession and honors two great champions of independent community pharmacy, the late Neil Pruitt Sr. and the late H. Joseph Schutte. It aims to motivate students in pharmacy school to create a thought-out plan for either purchasing an existing pharmacy or opening a pharmacy from the ground up, and to prepare tomorrow’s pharmacy entrepreneurs for a successful future.
There were 20 entries in this year’s competition. The teams rounding out the top 10, listed alphabetically, are Mercer University; Northeastern University; Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; the University of California, San Francisco; the University of Georgia; and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
The teams’ business plans were graded by independent pharmacy owners, business coaches and consultants, financiers, or community pharmacy practitioners, who must follow a detailed rubric when grading plans. Schools submitting to the competition for the first time receive a plaque for their participation. Each year that a school participates, it will receive a plate commemorating the year of participation to be added to the competition plaque. Teams placing in the top 10 receive a special plate acknowledging this distinction.
For more information about the Student Business Plan Competition, please visit NCPA’s website.
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Founded in 1898, the National Community Pharmacists Association is the voice for the community pharmacist, representing over 19,400 pharmacies that employ more than 230,000 individuals nationwide. Community pharmacies are rooted in the communities where they are located and are among America’s most accessible health care providers. To learn more, visit www.ncpa.org.
