NCPA Announces Finalists for 2025 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 24, 2025) – The National Community Pharmacists Association and the NCPA Foundation are pleased to announce that teams of pharmacy students from the University of South Carolina, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Washington have been named finalists in the 2025 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. The three teams will present their business plans in a live competition on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the NCPA Annual Convention in New Orleans. The winning team will be announced on Sunday, Oct. 19, as part of the convention’s First General Session.

“To be successful in today’s pharmacy climate, owners must have business savvy, attention to detail, resiliency, and a solid business plan to help keep us on track,” said NCPA President Jeff Harrell, PharmD.“Through participating in this competition, pharmacy students have a head start in developing and fine-tuning their concepts, and the opportunity to incorporate feedback from and build relationships with experienced pharmacy professionals. I’m proud of all teams in this year’s Student Business Plan Competition and wish the three finalists – the University of South Carolina, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Washington – the best of luck as they present at NCPA’s Annual Convention in October.”

Team members from the final three schools will compete for the following first, second, and third place awards:

• First Place: $3,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $3,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
• Second Place: $2,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $2,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
• Third Place: $1,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $1,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.

The Student Business Plan Competition, which is supported by Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company and the NCPA Foundation, is the first national competition of its kind in the pharmacy profession and honors two great champions of independent community pharmacy, the late Neil Pruitt Sr. and the late H. Joseph Schutte. It aims to motivate students in pharmacy school to create a thought-out plan for either purchasing an existing pharmacy or opening a pharmacy from the ground up, and to prepare tomorrow’s pharmacy entrepreneurs for a successful future.

The teams rounding out the top 10, listed alphabetically, are Keck Graduate Institute; Rutgers University; the University at Buffalo; the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis; the University of Mississippi; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and the University of Oklahoma.

The teams’ business plans were graded by independent pharmacy owners, business coaches and consultants, financiers, or community pharmacy practitioners, who must follow a detailed rubric when grading plans. Schools submitting to the competition for the first time receive a plaque for their participation. Each year that a school participates, it will receive a plate commemorating the year of participation to be added to the competition plaque. Teams placing in the top 10 receive a special plate acknowledging this distinction.

For more information about the Student Business Plan Competition, please visit NCPA’s website.