University of Texas at Austin Wins 2025 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition

NEW ORLEANS, La. (Oct. 19, 2025) – A team of student pharmacists from the University of Texas at Austin was named the winner of the 22nd annual Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. A team from the University of South Carolina was the runner-up, and a team representing the University of Washington finished as the second runner-up. The winners were announced as part of the National Community Pharmacists Association’s Annual Convention, being held Oct. 18-21 in New Orleans.

“Community pharmacy is where your skills, innovation, and ambition have no limits,” said NCPA President Jeff Harrell. “It’s also where, as a business owner, you must be able to roll with the punches and deal with whatever challenges might arise. Having an established, solid business plan helps you stay on course and handle any unexpected issues more confidently. We saw many great business plans in this year’s competition but one was a cut above the rest. Congratulations to the team from the University of Texas at Austin on a job well done!” 

The business plan competition is the first national competition of its kind in the pharmacy profession. The contest is named in honor of two great champions of independent community pharmacy, the late Neil Pruitt, Sr. and the late H. Joseph Schutte. Its goal is to motivate student pharmacists to create a business model for buying an existing independent community pharmacy or developing a new one. Through this competition, NCPA is helping to prepare tomorrow’s pharmacy entrepreneurs. The competition is supported by Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company, and the NCPA Foundation.

The three finalist teams presented their business plans in a live competition on Oct. 18 at the NCPA Annual Convention in New Orleans. The judges for this year’s live competition were Brian Caswell, Schwanda Flowers, Tripp Logan, Jason Montgomery, Scott Pace, and Chris Ward.

“The NCPA Foundation helps cultivate the next generation of independent community pharmacy owners and the Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition is our crown jewel in those efforts,” said Jerry Shapiro, PharmD, president of the NCPA Foundation. “Many past participants in the competition have gone into ownership and point to this experience as being an important steppingstone in achieving that goal.” 

The winning team from the University of Texas at Austin is comprised of team captain Rachel Helbling and team members Casey Carswell, Hannah Lerma, and Romina Manochahri. The team adviser is Terry Weaver, and the dean is Samuel Poloyac. In recognition of their achievement, the $6,000 first-place prize was shared among the presenting team members. The team members, team advisers, and dean will also receive complimentary registration, travel, and lodging to NCPA’s 2025 Multiple Locations Conference this February in Florida.

The runner-up, the University of South Carolina, is comprised of team captain Emily Fisher and team members Charlize Johnson and Samantha Shilhavy. The team adviser is Patti Fabel, and the dean is Stephen J. Cutler. The $4,000 second-place prize was shared among the presenting team members.

The second runner-up, the University of Washington, is comprised of team captain Elis Johannessen and team members Lee Chinn, Joel Jones, and Arielle Mamaril. The team adviser is Lisa Garza, and the dean is Jayanth Panyam. The $2,000 prize was shared among the presenting team members.

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.