Six Teams Trained By The Global Center For Social Entrepreneurship Network (GCSEN Foundation) Make The Cut In NY State's Business Plan Regional Competition Held At Marist College

KINGSTON, New York, April 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GCSEN, The Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship Network (GCSEN Foundation) recently had eighteen teams of GCSEN-trained students from SUNY New Paltz and Vassar College enter the prestigious NY State Business Plan, Mid-Hudson Regional Competition held at Marist College, Poughkeepsie NY. Out of a total of thirty-eight team entrants, six GCSEN-trained teams, five from SUNY New Paltz and one from Vassar College placed 1^st or 2^nd in their categories, advancing to compete in the NY State Business Plan Competition Finals in Albany on April 26, 2019.

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GCSEN is dedicated to spreading the ideas and practice of Social Entrepreneurship to higher education students and adult learners across the world. The organization's credo is to "Make Meaning, Make Money MoneyMove the World to a Better Place" via Social Entrepreneurship education and empowerment, and its platform of Social Venture Experience offerings.

The New York Business Plan Competition is a venture creation and innovation competition that was established in 2009 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship throughout New York's colleges and universities. The top teams from each of the ten regional zones advance to the final statewide competition in Albany, where college teams will go head-to-head for cash and in-kind prizes. Since 2010, more than 2,500 students have participated in the NYBPC, more than 100 businesses have been started, and the NYBPC has seeded over $1M, yielding over $20M in additional funding for these innovative start-up companies.

SUNY New Paltz had two teams finish in first place in their divisions: Golden Ages and Explark and three teams, Fare Stable, Vitality, and Co-act Furniture finishing in second place, with all five teams going to Albany. Vassar College's first place winner in its category is entitled Izana

Kristin Backhaus, Dean of the SUNY New Paltz School of Business said of Tony DiMarco, Entrepreneurship Adjunct Professor and Managing Director of GCSEN's Global Platforms, "Tony DiMarco has done an outstanding job in preparing our students for this competition. Thanks to his hard work and our students' creativity and professionalism, five winners at this year's competition were from SUNY New Paltz! Congratulations to all of our student competitors (we sent 14 teams) and to Tony for his fine work!"