2020 James and Eileen Christmas Business Plan Competition

The 2020 James and Eileen Christmas Business Plan Competition will be held on Thursday, April 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. in rooms 201/202 in The Peter J. Tobin College of Business. This year’s top prize for a 15-page business plan is $5,000.

Underwritten by James W. Christmas ’70CBA and Eileen Christmas, and hosted by The Peter J. Tobin College of Business and St. John’s University’s Office of Alumni Relations, the competition is open to all St. John’s undergraduate and graduate students. Last year’s winner, David Adams, designed a food truck business plan called The Doggie Bag.

This year’s keynote speaker is Stephen Distante ‘88CBA, Chairman and Founder of Vanderbilt Financial Group.

There is still time to get your submission ready to meet the March 16 deadline. Students can contact Ingrid D. Fray, D.M., Associate Professor, Management, for guidance.

William D. Reisel, Ph.D., Professor of Management and the competition’s Director, encourages all students who participated in the Pitch Johnny Competition to submit a plan for this competition. The competition offers cash prizes for the top three business plans and top three business plan pitches.

Pitch Johnny students can reach Luca Iandoli, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Science, or Carmine Gibaldi, Ed.D., Professor, Management and Organizational Psychology, with questions.

All competitors are required to produce a 15-page plan. A student whose business plan does not make the top five may still be selected to take part in the pitch event, where 10 contestants must pitch their business idea in three minutes.

Important Resources

Contest rules

Submission form

For more information, contact Dr. Reisel.