Vegetarian Global Protein Bar Startup Wins 2020 SU Student Entrepreneurship Competitions

SALISBURY, MD---With globally sourced ingredients and graphics, Noah Kness and Griffin Spolansky hope to take the protein bar industry by storm with their new product, Mezcla.

Their business plan for the line of vegan bars, named for the Spanish word for “mixture,” is this year’s winner of the $15,000 Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence, bestowed during the 33rd annual Franklin P. Perdue School of Business Entrepreneurship Competitions for Salisbury University students.

This award is sponsored by LWRC International and Rommel Chesapeake, Inc. For the first time, the competitions were held virtually due to ongoing SU measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Kness, an SU junior accounting major from Baltimore; and Spolansky, a student at the University of Virginia, believe Mezcla is the first brand of consumer packaged goods to celebrate world diversity through both food and art. Its ingredients, such as matcha, cocoa and chipotle peppers, are sourced from countries including Japan, Peru and Mexico.

Taking the idea a step further, the brand’s packaging and Internet graphics also are created by artists from those countries.

“It is very important to us that we are using global ingredients and highlighting their sources of origin on the front of our wrappers,” said Spolansky.

The combination represents a unique mixture (“mezcla”) of globalization that has already gotten its creators a meeting with a national retailer.

In addition, Kness and Spolansky received $1,000 by advancing in the first round of competitions, the “Invest in My Idea” poster presentation. They also placed first in the second round of the competitions, the “Gull Cage,” a Shark Tank-style elevator pitch to local business leaders, winning $2,500 from M&T Bank. In all, they finished the Entrepreneurship Competitions with some $18,500 in prize money.

Some 46 teams participated in this year’s competition, representing students throughout campus following University-wide campaign to inform and encourage those enrolled in all of SU’s schools and colleges to participate in the competitions.

Students also were urged to use resources from the Perdue School and its communitywide entrepreneurship ecosystem to prepare their entries. These tools included the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Hub in Perdue Hall, which provided services virtually after SU classes moved online in March.

“Our reach and support from the entrepreneurship ecosystem, campus and business community at large is impressive,” said William Burke, SU executive director for economic development and director of entrepreneurial activities.

Through the Hub, members of the University’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) offered student-to-student business plan and coaching services. Entrants also received training and support from Maryland Capital Enterprises; John Hickman, regional director of the Small Business Development Center at SU; Bill Bernard, rural business innovation mentor at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO); and Mike Thielke, executive director of the Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center, hotDesks Coworking and F³ Tech Accelerator. Outside the Hub, students consulted with local experts, such as Kevin Justice, executive director of M4 Reactor and Michelle Leveque, Leveque Intellectual Property Law.

SU faculty also provided workshops and office hours for students. They included Drs. Gene Hahn, professor of information and decision sciences, and Aaron Johnson assistant professor of marketing; Bob Morrison, management lecturer; and Bob Barber, mathematics and computer science senior lecturer.

Placing second in the Bernstein round was Evolve Solar Solutions, a solar technology and HVAC integration business proposed by senior economics major Ronald Cavelius of Ellicott City, MD, who came in third in last year’s Entrepreneurship Competitions. Building on that success with the judges’ feedback, he took home $11,000 in cash and prizes, including $5,000 from Maryland Capital Enterprises, $5,000 in services from the Perdue School’s Business, Economic and Community Outreach Network (BEACON) and $1,000 as a winner of the “Invest in My Idea” round.

Buzz Meadery, a small business owned by Ed.D. student Megan Mudron Hines and her husband, Brett, finished third in the competition. The Berlin, MD-based company produces high-quality, small-batch mead, or honey wine. The Hineses won  $8,000 in cash and prizes, including $5,000 from Pohanka Automotive Group of Salisbury, $1,000 in BEACON services, $1,000 as a winner of the “Invest in my Idea” round and the $1,000 Director’s Choice Award, presented to the top team representing collaboration between students enrolled in more than one SU school or college, or at another higher education institution.

In addition to the three finalists, 12 other business plans received $1,000 each during the “Invest in My Idea” round. Cash awards for this round were provided by Bank of America, Chesapeake Utilities, BB&T, Layton’s Chance Vineyard Winery, Private Wealth Partners, Quintellas, Sisk Fulfillment Service, TEDCO, Worcester County Economic Development, and entrepreneurs Michele Garigliano, Kathy Kiernan, David Landsberger and Kimmerly Messick, as well as Burke. They included:

• Downshift DIY Garage (shared space for do-it-yourself automotive repair and restoration) – Sean Bernard (also received the City of Salisbury Mayor’s Award: $3,000 in cash and $2,000 in city startup services for a business opening in Salisbury)
• DropLock (firearms safety technology) – Samuel Borsh (also received a James A. List Award: $2,250  in attorney services; and the SU Veterans Services Award: $750 in business startup services from Edward Jones and $250 in cash)
• TOM (feminine hygiene products for stigmatized women and girls in Bangladesh) – Rachel Bruce (also received a $500 SU Office of Diversity and Inclusion Award for businesses owned or operated by, or serving, underrepresented populations or those with disabilities)
• Jive (online “job hive” to match job seekers’ personalities with employers’ business cultures) – Kaitlyn Causey (also received the Salisbury Wicomico Economic Development Award: $1,000 in services)
• That’s Visual (American Sign Language-based education service) – Joshua Franzak (also received the $5,000 CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Medical Award)
• CLUTCH by Tia Dash (hand-crafted budget-friendly purses) – Shantiyyah Hobby (also received a James A. List Award: $500 in attorney services)
• Cupcakes by Frosted (bakery providing party packages for special events) – Lindsay Jones
• Valkyrie Software Solutions (video game enhancement system for the hearing impaired) – Cameron Kane (also received a $500 SU Office of Diversity and Inclusion Award for businesses owned or operated by, or serving, underrepresented populations or those with disabilities)
• TL Squared Woodworking (home décor from reclaimed materials) – Tyler Loh
• Dorm Boards (detachable headboards for student residence hall beds) – Madison Sass and Cameron Mickley
• HealthSTAT (digital health testing to connect at-home patients with medical professionals) – Samantha Schorr
• NightIce (medical ice therapy product) – Joshua Woozley (also received a James A. List Award: $2,250 in attorney services)

Regardless of whether their proposals were selected for funding, all participants had the opportunity to win raffles with prizes donated by BeachUm, Burley Oak Brewing Co., Evolution Craft Brewing Co., Lurking Class Skate Shop, Olde Town Deli and Rommel’s ACE Hardware.

Though the virtual format was a slight change from previous years’ competitions, students still found support among the judges and SU representatives who helped make the event possible, including Dr. Christy Weer, dean of the Perdue School.

“There’s no better time than the present to be focused on and supporting the entrepreneurial spirit,” she said.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website.