University of South Carolina Team Wins 2023 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition

Student pharmacists from the University of South Carolina have won the 20th annual Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. The winning team was announced at this year’s National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Annual Convention and Expo.¹

“For independent pharmacy owners, having a solid business plan helps you confront whatever challenges inevitably arise,” said Hugh Chancy, RPh, NCPA president, in a news release. “Students participating in this competition grow both personally and professionally; they move into their careers better equipped to roll with the punches and be successful owners and leaders in the industry.”

Three finalist teams presented their business plans on October 14, 2023. The business plan competition, named for Neil Pruitt, Sr., and H. Joseph Schutte, is the first of its kind in the pharmacy profession; it is supported by Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company, and the NCPA Foundation.

“The NCPA Foundation helps cultivate the next generation of independent community pharmacy owners, and the Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition is our crown jewel in those efforts,” said NCPA Foundation President Jerry Shapiro, PharmD. “Many past participants in the competition have gone into ownership and point to this experience as being an important stepping stone in achieving that goal.”

Members of the University of South Carolina team include captain Jacob King and team members Farehaa Hussain and CharLeigh Steverson, advised by Patti Fabel. As the winning team, their chapter received a $3000 prize, with an additional $3000 contributed to the school in the name of dean Stephen J. Cutler, PhD, “to promote independent community pharmacy at the college of pharmacy.”

Runners-up of this year’s competition included teams from the University of Georgia, captained by Noah Gurr with team members Dallas Hardin, Will Marquess, and Jack Reynolds, advised by Ashley Hanngings and Matt Lastinger, and the University of Texas at Austin, captained by Daniel Flores with team members Weston Esplin, Samantha Padilla, and Vraj Patel, advised by Terry Weaver and Nathan Pope. As first runner-up, the University of Georgia chapter received a $2000 prize, and an additional $2000 contributed in the name of dean Kelly M. Smith, PharmD, FASHP, FCCP, while the second runner-up team from the University of Texas at Austin received $1000, with an additional $1000 donated in the name of dean Samuel M. Poloyac, PharmD, PhD.

Other teams in the top 10 included Harding University College of Pharmacy, Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ohio Northern University College of Pharmacy, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Rutgers University, the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy, and the University of Oklahoma.

Reference

1. University of South Carolina Wins 2023 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. News release. National Community Pharmacists Association. October 15, 2023. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://ncpa.org/newsroom/news-releases/2023/10/15/university-south-carolina-wins-2023-good-neighbor-pharmacy-ncpa