James & Eileen Christmas Business Plan Competition

Agreement of Contestants – By submitting a business plan to the competition, the student contestant(s) agree(s) that the ideas, concepts and the entry itself are the original work of contestants. Contestants also agree that no one included in the submission is under any agreement or restrictions that prohibit or constrain content disclosure and that St. John’s University is not liable for the disclosure of plan content through the contest itself, its promotion or public relations efforts thereafter.    Further, contestants agree that the team and every individual member of the team will comply with the rules and guidelines of the competition and certify that the team is eligible to compete according to the stated rules of the competition or university. You may submit only 1 plan as an individual or as a group.

Eligibility of Students ‐ The business plan competition is open to all St. John’s University students who are registered at St. John’s University at some point during the academic year of the competition (Summer of 2024 through the Spring of 2025).   Full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students are eligible. Students do not have to be registered at the time of the final competition, as long as they were registered and active students in one of the semesters of that academic year. Contestants can enter individually or in groups limited to 5 or fewer contestants. 

Contest Rules

• Each contestant may submit only 1 business plan and may not contribute to a second business plan.  It is recommended but not required to use LivePlan.com online Business Plan writing software.
• Contestants can seek outside advice to support the development of the plan, but this assistance should be acknowledged in the plan executive summary and should not constitute concept development or substantial work on the plan, or plan will be disqualified.  
• Contestants may re-submit a business plan that was entered in a prior year’s contest only after substantial modifications (at least 25% new) otherwise it will be disqualified. Please state so in the executive summary section of the plan and email the prior plan to weissmar@stjohns.edu. 
• By entering the competition, contestant acknowledges that the contents of their business plan may be released to employees and faculty of St. John’s University and external judges for the purposes of running the competition, judging the plans or educational reasons and no release will be construed as violating any/all intellectual property or non-disclosure rights of the contestants. Contestants agree that photos and video of the competition, interviews or spoken words of contestants may also be freely used by the competition for communication and promotional purposes.
• Prizes ‐ In order to receive an award, contestants must present or if backup is used on Microsoft Teams Thursday (6-8 pm) April 10, 2025.
• Plans that are illegal business concepts or are interpreted by the plan director(s) as unethical or which pursue topics that are not in keeping with the Mission of St. John’s University or policy governing appropriate student behavior will be disqualified from the competition. The university reserves the right to disqualify, in its sole and absolute discretion, any team from the competition at any time for any reason. Reasons for disqualification may include, but are not limited to, plagiarism and any other form of academic dishonesty, misappropriation or infringement of the intellectual property of others, and any failure to comply with these rules and regulations. Disqualified teams shall forfeit any and all prizes awarded to them. These rules cannot cover every circumstance. Consequently, the director reserves the right to modify these rules in any manner for the good of the competition. 
• Any claim of a violation of the rules of the contest must be filed in writing to [email protected].  Individual(s) making a claim of violation of rules must state the reasons in writing and provide full contact information of the claimants for the claim to be investigated. Claims of violations must be received within 30 days of the date of the competition.

Types of Business Plans ‐ The business plan competition accepts for-profit business plans only.  Franchised business models of any sort are not eligible for the competition.  Existing businesses may present growth strategies for new lines of business provided that at least one of the contestants is an equity owner in the business submitting the plan. Please do not submit horizontal growth business plans, for example, a lawn service on Long Island that wants to do exactly the same service in Queens.  Plans not deemed sufficiently original may be rejected at the sole discretion of the competition.
 

Plan Structure ‐ Business plans must be 15 pages or less.  All entries should be single-spaced with not less than one-inch margins on all sides.  Use a font of 12 points in size for text and not smaller than 8 points in size for spreadsheets or tables.  The plan should substantially cover the outlined sections below. Please submit plan as a MS Word file format or PDF on the submission website:  2025 Business Plan Submission Website

1.0   Cover Page  

• Business Name

• Member names, X Numbers, email, cell phone

2.0    Executive Summary

• Type of Business and Goals

• Value Proposition/strategy (What you are offering)

3.0 Target Market

• Problem worth solving

• Product/Service Offer

• Target Market 

• Competition

4.0 Execution over 3-Years

• Marketing and Sales (promotional approach)

• Operations (activities business performs successfully)

• Milestones (each of the next three years)

• Key Metrics (measurable indicators plan is on target years 1, 2, and 3)

5.0 Company

• Form of Corporation (filed with state or intending to file)

• Team Member Biography (1 paragraph each member maximum)

6.0 Financial Plan

• Profit and Loss Statements (for each of the next 3 years)

• Financing (needs and method of obtaining startup money)

• Repayment plan for investors

Appendix

• Additional information, images, drawings

• All submissions must be uploaded to the contest website link: 2025 Business Plan Submission Website by Wednesday, March 5, 2025. You will need to create an account with the submission site, Reviewr. One person only should create an account from each business plan. Enter all registration information required. 
   

• 5 Business Plan Finalists will be selected and announced on March 20, 2025. Finalists will be assigned a professional mentor to guide their final presentations. Finalists meet with an assigned mentor to practice the completed PowerPoint slide deck (5 minutes maximum).

   

• The 5 Business Plan Finalists shall participate in an in-person review presentation on April 3, 2025 on campus in Queens.  All finalists are expected to attend at their assigned time.

   

• Final slides (submitted as a ppt or pdf file) for the 5 Business Plan Competition finalists are due by email on Monday, April 7, 2025. Email to [email protected]. 
   

• The competition director reserves the exclusive right to decide on the top plans for participation in the competition in the event of scoring ties in faculty evaluations.

• Business plan finalists will receive a monetary prize of $5,000, $2,000, $1,000 for placing first, second, third, respectively.
   
• Pitch Event winners will receive a monetary prize of $500, $400, $300, $200, $100 for placing first, second, third, fourth, fifth, respectively.
   
• Distribution of prizes will be completed after April 10th, 2025 as soon as finalists and pitch presenters provide requested tax and other forms which are subject to any/all applicable local, state, federal laws/regulations.

7 Judging Criteria (Maximum of 70 Points Per Judge)

Each submission will be evaluated by 2 judges.

• Strength of the Value Proposition

• Clear and Sustainable Competitive Advantage

• Target Market is Receptive to New Entrants

• Market Size Providing Opportunity for High Growth

• High Potential for Sustainable, Scalable Revenues and Business Model

• Feasible Implementation

• Time to Market and Pay-Off Opportunities for Investors

2022: $5,000 winner Linh Dang and Dante Colaiacovo for Green Zone, a cannabis dispensary in New Jersey with expansion plans that include introducing vending machines over the next several years. 

Link to full story

2023: $5,000 winer Louis A. Balducci for NYC Arts Cypher, a nonprofit arts venue located on Staten Island. 

Read about all winners. 

2024: Daria Stepanova and Dayan C. Pita Garcia won the $5,000 first place for their plan to develop Artesano, an artisanal coffee company that serves authentic Colombian coffee in tea bags.

2024 recap here

James W. Christmas '70CBA began his professional career by securing an internship at the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen when he was still an undergraduate at St. John’s University.  His internship led to a paid position at the firm, which he immediately started on a day between his last final examination and commencement. During his career at Arthur Andersen, Christmas worked with a variety of clients, primarily in the energy areas of oil, gas and electric utilities.

Christmas left Arthur Andersen as Senior Manager in March, 1978 to accept the position of Corporate Controller at National Utilities and Industries, a diversified gas utility company with a variety of ancillary energy businesses. While at National Utilities and Industries his responsibilities included troubleshooting problems at a number of subsidiary companies, and his success led him to also serve as President and/or Vice President at several of these subsidiaries.

Christmas had been serving as Vice President of Planning and Development when he orchestrated the spinoff of National Utilities and Industries’ non regulated businesses in 1988 and became President and CEO of KCS Group, a newly created company which later became KCS Energy.  Under his leadership, KCS grew from a tiny startup to a nearly $2 billion enterprise.  In 2006 KCS Energy merged with Petrohawk Energy Corporation, an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, production, exploration and development of oil and gas, with properties concentrated in North Louisiana, Arkansas, East Texas, South Texas and Oklahoma. Petrohawk became one of the premier oil and gas companies involved in the new shale gas technology which is adding significantly to the nation’s gas supplies.  In 2011 Petrohawk was acquired by BHP Billiton for $15 billion.

Christmas is retired and currently serves as a Director of Petrohawk Energy Corporation and as Chairman of its Financial Reporting Committee.  In addition, he is a Director of Halcon Resources, Inc. and serves as Chairman of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of its Audit Committee. He is also a Senior Financial Advisor to a private oil and gas company and a member of The Peter J. Tobin College of Business Advisory Board.

Eileen Christmas also shares a commitment to the mission and students of St. John’s University.

Growing up in a devout family that stressed the importance of religion, she attended her parish elementary school, followed by high school at The Mary Louis Academy and college at Niagara University. It was at Niagara that she met her husband, and they married at the completion of her Sophomore year.

The couple relocated to Queens and Jim transferred to St. John’s University to complete his degree while Eileen began teaching at a local Catholic elementary school. She put her career on hold to raise her family, and over the years has put her Vincentian ideals into action by devoting herself to countless volunteer activities within the Catholic Church.

She has taught Pre-Kindergarten and Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (C.C.D.) classes in her parish school, served as a member of the Religious Education Committee and shared her faith with those in need as both a Eucharistic Minister and a Consolation Minister.

Both James and Eileen Christmas are committed to providing opportunities for hardworking students to secure a quality education by taking advantage of all that St. John’s has to offer.