Panasci donates $1 million to UB
Gift to fund annual competition to encourage students to become entrepreneurs

By Suzanne Chamberlain
Reporter Contributor

A pharmacist and business executive turned venture capitalist, UB graduate Henry A. Panasci, Jr. has given $1 million to the university to create a competition that encourages students to become entrepreneurs.

Chairman of Cygnus Management Group, LLC, and former chairman and CEO of Fay's, Inc., Panasci has established the Henry A. Panasci, Jr. Entrepreneurship Award.

All UB students will be eligible for the competition, and may enter either individually or as teams of up to five members. There will be two prizes awarded each year, $25,000 to the first-place winner and $15,000 to the second-place winner. These prizes will be used as start-up capital for the new business ventures described in the business plans submitted by the award winners.

"The future depends on entrepreneurs, and we need to support their efforts," said Panasci, who received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1948 and returned to UB to earn a bachelor's degree in pharmacy in 1952. "The entrepreneurial award will encourage new business growth in Upstate New York by providing seed money for the new business ventures."

Announcing the gift and competition at a press conference on Monday, Provost David J. Triggle praised the generosity of Panasci and his father, a 1924 graduate of the School of Pharmacy.

"Both he and his father have been loyal and devoted friends of the School of PharmacyŠ (which) owes a considerable amount to the kind ministrations of both over the years."

President William R. Greiner, who was out of town on business and unable to attend the press conference, noted in a prepared statement: "Henry's latest gift will have a lasting, positive impact on all of our students who hope to become entrepreneurs, inspiring them to turn their dream of owning a business into reality. In the process, these students will acquire valuable skills to succeed in the business world.

"We are extremely grateful to Henry for this generous gift, which will nurture the development of future entrepreneurs and stimulate economic development in the state," added Greiner.

Saluting Panasci as a successful businessman and entrepreneur, Wayne K. Anderson, dean of the School of Pharmacy, noted that "as he built the Fay's pharmacy chain, he never lost sight of his responsibilities to the profession of pharmacy."

He added: "Henry's entrepreneurial spirit pushed him to try new ideasŠhis goals were to be thinking ahead of the competition, to be on the cutting edge, to create merchandising excitement." Anderson recalled that the motto of Fay's, which, at one point, was the nation's 13th largest drugstore chain, was "Fay's is not your average drug store."

Panasci hopes the competition will grow into a full-time, venture-capital effort that takes advantage of the resources of the university community. Modeling the competition after one that MIT has run for 10 years, Panasci expects it will attract dozens of entrants each year.

The competition will be administered by the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) in the School of Management.

The center will coordinate a judges committee to be comprised of business executives and venture capitalists, as well as professors and students. CEL, which provides advice, counsel and business-education programs to entrepreneurs and family-business owners throughout Western New York, has helped more than 300 businesses since its founding in 1986.

Competitors will submit a business plan outlining the need for a product or service and its target market, including a description of the methods for bringing it to market. Marianne Sullivan, CEL executive director, said entries will be judged based on the soundness of the proposed product or service, marketability and chances for success.

Details of the first competition will be explained at a session for interested students to be held Jan. 17. The deadline for the submission of entries for the first competition will be Oct. 2, 2000.

A major part of the MIT model, and one that Panasci hopes will become part of UB's contest, is the idea of mentoring. "Investment dollars are only one need of a start-up business," Panasci stated. "Equally important will be the potential for mentoring support and marketplace connections that judges and other interested parties can bring to such an effort."

Panasci realized his own entrepreneurial dream when he and his father, Henry Panasci, a 1924 graduate of UB's School of Pharmacy, co-founded Fay's Drugs in 1958. Under the younger Panasci's leadership, Fay's diversified by launching The Paper Cutter and Wheels Discount Auto Supply. At the time of its merger with a large national retailer in 1996, Fay's had grown to more than $1 billion in annual sales.