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SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury fan-favorite band Housing Co. proved its recording studio and business, 2 Months Records LLC, is just as much a viral sensation after taking home the top prize in ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s 39th annual Student Entrepreneurship Competitions.

Seniors Ethan Cohen, of Ocean City, MD; Connor Howes, of Havre de Grace, MD; Connor Lewandowski, of Elkton, MD; and alumnus Trey Niccolini ‘24 earned an $18,000 total prize package. It included the $15,000 Richard A. Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence, named in honor of the competitions’ founder and sponsored by LWRC International; and the $3,000 City of Salisbury award. 

Housing Co. has grown far beyond campus performances and now has over 26 million views on social media and a spot among the top 0.1% of streaming artists globally. Its members have dedicated their home, resources and time to recording and promoting local music artists with the goal of helping them achieve the same success. 

“Our experience inspired our solution and our mission is to help emerging artists establish themselves and help grow a music community here,” the band’s members said during their pitch to the Bernstein Award judges. 

The funding will help them establish a more permanent space, upgrade equipment and devote resources to more marketing for their clients.

The Student Entrepreneurship Competitions are the second-longest continuously running collegiate business competition in the United States. The competitions are comprised of the Bernstein Business Plan Competition and the Idea Factory Poster Competition. 

Second place went to Wuduh, an online application that simplifies and summarizes internet pages with a browser extension capable of not only translating but adding context and comprehension regardless of language spoken or reading level. Ramez Elobeid and Will Weber, of Salisbury, earned $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in services from SU’s Business, Economic and Community Outreach Network (BEACON). Elobeid also received the $3,000 first-place prize for Wuduh’s plan in SU’s Idea Factory Poster Competition and the SU Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s $500 Mosaic Award. 

Wor-Wic Community College student Rakayla Duffy came in third with her plan for Cloud 9 Spa, specializing in high-quality skincare treatments, massages and products. Her idea netted the $5,000 third place Bernstein prize, sponsored by the Rommel’s Ace Hardware and Rommel Harley-Davidson.

Newly reimagined, the Idea Factory Competition featured students’ business posters who pitched their ideas to a judging panel of business and community leaders.  

Earning the second-place, $2,000 Idea Factory prize was SunGuard, a digital chip sensor to detect overexposure to UV rays, pitched by Taylor Scott Greenwood, DE. 

Tiana Cyrelson, of Voorhees, NJ, earned the $1,000 third-place M&T Bank Award for HabitQuest, an interactive game to encourage habit forming and progress tracking to achieve physical, mental and wellbeing goals. 

In addition to the top finalists, 10 other business idea posters each received a $500 Merit Award:

•    Lakebound Experiences – Carter Darrington, Olney, MD.

•    REUSE-SU – Mallory Bell, Sykesville, MD

•    Ruff Spot Pet Sanctuary – Lauryn Damron, Glen Burnie, MD

•    NaviCare – Riley Bozman, Salisbury         

•    The James John Stoddard Foundation – James Stoddard, Crofton, MD (also won the SU Veterans Affairs and Edward Jones $750 Military/Veterans Award)

•    Hand to Hand Food Donations – Ben Cooledge, Salisbury

•    MyHealth.AI – Mason Fallon, Annapolis (also won the $2,500 CareFirst Award)

•    Wise Plates – Patrick Outten, Chester, MD (also won a $500 Mosaic Award)

•    Fit and Frosted Creamery – Ashley Gerbes, Essex, MD

•    StudySphere – Ryleah Corbin, Glen Burnie, MD; and Eden Campbell, Mantua, NJ 

Additional winners included:

•    SetSpike Volleyball – Leah Osmon, Allen, MD ($1,000 Salisbury Wicomico Economic Development Award)

•    Multi Chute – Tristyn Smallwood, Waldorf, MD; Maya Martin-Cubbage, Rockville, MD; and Nicolas Fraikin, Elkton, MD ($1,000 Jenna Drewer Noll Cross Collaboration Award)

Many competitors, like 2 Months Records LLC and Wuduh, represented SU academic schools and colleges beyond SU’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, as well as other local institutions including Wor-Wic Community College. These students had the opportunity to participate in SU-sponsored workshops prior to the competition and to work with SU-affiliated entrepreneurship consultants.

Judges praised the students’ efforts and encouraged them to take advantage of the Delmarva Peninsula’s economic ecosystem, including tools available at SU, to better their ideas, products and services.

These include services from the Rommel Center and training and support from members of the local entrepreneurship ecosystem such as John Hickman, director of BEACON; the Small Business Development Center (SBDC); and the University’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) club. Cumulatively, the competitions have awarded students more than $1 million in cash and prizes. 

For more information about SU’s Entrepreneurship Competitions, visit the program’s webpage.

Learn more about opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at the SU website.