WILSON: UB grad students come up with ideas for business growth

By Bill Wolcott<br><a href="mailto:bill.wolcott@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Bill</a>

WILSON — Ideas flowed from University at Buffalo graduate students at the 14th annual University at Buffalo MBA Case Competition, which was held at Wilson High School for the first time on Friday night.

Some ideas could be implemented in months, while other projects could be of the pie-in-the-sky variety.

They were well-thought-out and well-defended. There was a consensus that producing organic foods would be profitable and there was a push to draw Canadians and Canadian investors to the community.

The ideas from the four teams ranged from Wi-Fi access for the entire village and cinema boutiques for the heart of the town — to putting the former Pfeiffer Foods plant back in operation as a BOCES school or to make applesauce.

Brett and Ann Stiff live only nine houses away from the Wilson House, where there was a reception for the students and the winners were announced.

“There was a lot of good ideas, and we’ll be pondering them for the next couple weeks,” said Brett Stiff, who does home repair in the area. “The Pfeiffer plant is the big albatross sitting over there and needs to be taken advantage of.”

Ann Stiff said: “I liked the idea of the World Wide Web blanket for the village. That would be an interesting thing to start out promoting. It would be easier and a quick idea to put our names on the map. The smaller things build on bigger things.”

Jay Brown of Niagara Falls took an interest in the project. “If there’s something they can do to revitalize this town, it would be phenomenal,” he said. “There are thousands of villages and towns throughout the country with similar problems.”

“Wireless was a great idea,” Brown said. “As a boater, I look for harbors with that. I’m game for the cultural ideas. They are doable and not that expensive. I really liked their presentation and they were doable.”

Pfeiffer Foods closed in mid-November, putting 155 people out of work. Mayor Patrick Kelahan, an MBA graduate of UB, invited his alma mater to take part in a real-world setting to help the town and village.

“Their presentations were all very professional, well-rehearsed,” said, Kelahan. “The question-and-answer sessions proved they knew what they were talking about. There were four or five ideas of things that came out as things that could be done without big expense, but they’ll also prompt other ideas.”

The students, coming from as far away as Romania and Taiwan, to as close as Cambria, showed they know their business. How their plans can be implemented remains to be seen.

• Team III, which called itself “IBM-Minus 1,” won the first prize and a trip to Washington, D.C., for international competition. Students Alex Bamfai of Niagara Falls, Ont.; Christopher Bodkin of Buffalo; Alina Cofas of Romania; and David Gordon of Buffalo suggested Wilson become the first wireless village.

The cost, they said, would be less than $8,000, although Wi-Fi would be cost-prohibitive to the entire town. A new water treatment plant, away from the beach property, would be more cost-effective than putting money into the existing plant, the team said.

• One of the teams urged: Consider a gourmet food incubator, establishing an artisan community to draw day-trippers and stay-vacation neighbors from the Niagara Frontier. In the long-range, Wilson could be the home of an upscale health center and recreational resort. It would be an expensive project to target pampered guests.

• Team IV, “Team Apple,” pushed for Upstate Applesauce, noting that New York is the second-largest state in production of apples. It would focus on quality and offer organic and traditional sauce. Team Apple presented beautiful labels for their products.

• Brendan James Gilbert of Cambria, Andi Schmitt, Victor Tsai of Rockland County and Ellen Wagner of Taiwan projected a Wilson Wharf where fish could be processed in the Pfeiffer plant. They noted that Lake Ontario was the least contaminated of the Great Lakes.

• Team I had students from India, Rochester, Staten Island and Singapore. Sunir Garg, Amy Monin, Javier Sullivan and Gordon Tan noted Wilson’s strengths are having waterfront property and a close-knit community. Wilson also has easy access to local products.

Wilson must differentiate from other towns that share its weaknesses and strengths. The students suggested tax incentives, shared services and a reputation as being business-friendly.

“Jobs are more important than taxes,” Sullivan said.

Team I thought “Wilson Inc.” would attract business, with the townspeople having an investment in the companies. Wilson would be a “shell company” for an out-of-town investor. A “fake company” would show Wilson is willing to put its “skin in the game.”

Team II hopes to capitalize on tourism and have seasonal festivals with sailing races, theater in the park and a boutique cinema. The boutique cinema would take an investment of $15,000. The team of Michael Logan of Depew, Matt Brertrand of Kendall and Erik Stegall of East Amherst put timetables on their suggestions.

There could be fishing competition in the winter and flower boxes in the spring.

Assistant Dean Dave Frasier monitored the competition of “real world learning.”

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott at 439-9222, ext. 6246.

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