The Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center held its annual pharmacy ownership business plan competition in April. Seven teams of students submitted plans, and three were selected as finalists for the competition. This year’s winners are:
- 1st Place: Access Health Café & Pharmacy
Rebecca Axson, Jessica Chen, and Christina Lin - 2nd Place: North Blakely Family Pharmacy
Jacob Jordan, Lawrence (Trey) Hammond, Jeffrey Pires, and Blake Wannarat - 3rd Place: Hormone Pharm, Inc.
Amanda Arenella, Natalie Harris, Alyssa King, Catherine Packard, and Kaitlyn Paxton
KPIC Executive Director Patti Fabel, Pharm.D., says the competition is no easy feat.
“The teams work with budgets, determine the appropriate number of employees required to support their proposed services and do a location analysis,” she says. “They also have to determine if there is enough market space to be competitive and whether they will offer something different enough to attract patients to their business.”
The competition provided a new component this year as several KPIC partners served as mentors to the teams, providing guidance, advice, and a wealth of information to assist the teams in developing their business plan.
“We found that the quality of the business plans submitted were at a higher level than those in the past,” says Fabel. “Many hours of research, planning and developing are invested to create a good solid plan, and we are grateful to our mentors for the time spent with the students and the feedback they provided.”
Many hours of research, planning and developing are invested to create a good solid plan, and we are grateful to our mentors for the time spent with the students and the feedback they provided.
Patti Fabel, Pharm.D. Executive Director, Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center
Access Health’s plan was to create a sustainable pharmacy that targets health disparities in the Denmark, South Carolina, community.
“We created a business plan that would provide the community with access to all aspects of health care, such as telehealth, wellness coaching, and point-of-care testing,” says Lin. “In addition, we also included a café which will provide the community with a safe place to gather and have access to the internet.”
“Communication was key,” says Axson. “We wanted to make sure everything was cohesive, so we established due dates to meet and discuss each of our individually completed parts. There were a ton of minute details that ran throughout the plan, so communication and making sure those details were carried to each part of the plan was essential.”
Chen recognizes that taking part in the competition allowed each of the team members to gain new insight into what it takes to start up, maintain and grow a business.
“One of the more difficult aspects of the business plan was the financials, as none of us understood what numbers we needed, but through research and help from mentors, we learned how to calculate certain percentages, estimate numbers, and make our plan more realistic,” she notes.
Access Health will now represent the College of Pharmacy in the NCPA National Competition to be held later this year.
Topics: Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center, Pharm.D. Program