Tuesday, Feb 20, 2024
Elina Csapo and Reeva Khokhar are the 2024 Norm Brodsky Business Concept Competition winners
by Diane Cornell
Elina Csapo, a senior at the Hun School of Princeton and Reeva Khokhar, a senior at John P. Stevens High School in Edison are the winners of the 2024 Norm Brodsky Business Concept Competition. The two students tied for first place at the annual competition held on Feb. 3, and each received the contest’s grand prize of a full, four-year scholarship to Rider University.
Csapo won for an idea that sprung from her own experience with apraxia, a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult to speak. She formed Young Able Voices, a support and advocacy group for youngsters in grades 3-12 diagnosed with the condition.
Khokhar also had a personal connection to the product she successfully pitched, OptiDetect, a mobile app to screen for skin and eye cancers, matching users with medical specialists if cancer is detected. Her idea was inspired by a cousin’s battle with melanoma last summer.“Being able to receive a full scholarship opens doors to a world of possibilities and gives me the opportunity to further pursue my entrepreneurial dream without the burden of financial constraints,” says Khokhar.
The Shark Tank style business competition challenges high school students to develop an innovative business idea and present it in front of a panel of judges.
The competition is divided into two divisions, with high school seniors competing for the grand prize of a scholarship to Rider, while juniors and sophomores compete for cash prizes and the chance to be automatically entered into the senior competition when eligible.
Last year, competing as juniors, Csapo and Khokhar also tied for first place in the contest’s sophomore/junior division, and were automatically entered into this year’s senior division match up.
“I am so excited to have been part of this competition for the past two years, because I was able to present my ideas Shark Tank style, listen to the judges and even borrow some of their ideas to help grow my concept,” says Csapo.
Rider received nearly 200 submissions for this year’s competition. Applicants were required to submit a brief summary of their business concept, which went through two rounds of review by a group of judges, before being narrowed down to the 10 finalists.
“We were all really impressed by their business acumen,” says Lora Hudicka, director of Rider's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. “Their concepts were clear, detailed, focused and well thought out in terms of markets, strategies and growing their businesses.”
Among the other finalists were: Belle Scott of Wall High School (third place, senior division); Rithvik Jayanthi of Montgomery High School (first place, sophomore/junior division); Dane Shiroff of Cherokee High School (second place, sophomore/junior division); and Athi Gounder of Hillsborough High School (third place, sophomore/junior division).
The competition is sponsored by husband and wife Norm Brodsky ‘64 and Elaine Brodsky. Norm, a long-time entrepreneur who is the namesake of Rider’s Norm Brodsky College of Business, founded eight successful businesses, including Citi Storage, the largest privately owned archive business in the country.
Norm heartily believes that anyone, regardless of industry or job title, can benefit from an entrepreneurial mindset. This mindset is recognizable in the course, “Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind,” that he teaches as an adjunct professor at the Norm Brodsky College. This course brings successful entrepreneurs into the classroom to share their experiences with students, and is woven throughout the College’s undergraduate and graduate programs, minors and certificates.