Weedsport Jr.-Sr. School senior Connor Blumer placed second in the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES annual Lindy Business Plan Competition held on May 21. Blumer – who participates in the Heavy Equipment Repair and Operation (HERO) program – pitched a prospective business plan to a panel of judges. In total, about five businesses were presented during the competition.

According to BOCES, the Lindy Business Plan Competition tasks students with taking the initial steps of creating and owning a small business, from conceptualizing the services offered (and company name/branding), to outlining a business plan to pitch to prospective lenders.

For the purposes of the competition, the judges panel filled the “lender” role, asking the budding entrepreneurs questions regarding loan amounts, advertising, equipment purchase, compensation, long-term business growth, and more.

Blumer and his partner pitched an idea for a manure separator company to the judges. He said they worked on the plan throughout the whole school year (including daily for the last month), and included many details such as insurance information and financial details.

“I learned a lot including how much it costs to start up a business,” he said.

“It’s not easy to start it up. There’s a lot of work and details that go into it. The judges told us it was a good business and they’d be interested in helping us out if we really wanted to start it out.”

For coming in second, Benedict and his partner earned $250.