Five New Hyde Park Memorial High School students won $5,000 cash and will share a $10,000 college scholarship after winning Nassau County’s annual Comptroller’s Entrepreneurial Challenge on April 9 to conceive the best business plan to redevelop the Nassau Coliseum.
Two hundred business students from high schools across Nassau County competed for scholarships and cash awards—more than $33,000 in all.
“Our group is called the United Capitalists, representing the Nassau Solar Authority,” said Samantha Longo, New Hyde Park team CEO. “Our office will be located at the Nassau Coliseum, and we plan to give the new Nassau Coliseum solar panel roofing as well as the other businesses. Our business would also go to your house and install solar panels onto your house at no cost. The radiation from the sun gets sent to your house and PSEG re-circuits that energy, and they will pay us for it.”
Student teams had 10 minutes to convince a panel of expert judges that their plan for a business in the plaza of the new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is feasible and would be successful.
“My office has created a competition where the leaders of tomorrow will be challenged today to come up with business ideas that they feel will thrive in Nassau County,” Comptroller George Maragos said. “The development around the coliseum will be one of the largest projects in the county and the challenge will provide students with an exciting opportunity to come up with innovative and youthful business ideas.”
