May 23, 2005 -- Joey Bohm, a native of Philadelphia, won first place and $5,000 in a business plan competition at Sy Syms School of Business, Yeshiva University’s undergraduate business college in New York City.

School officials presented Mr. Bohm with the prize at an awards ceremony May 16. The business plan competition, an annual program of Sy Syms School of Business and its Rennert Entrepreneurial Institute, featured several plans from Syms students. The plans were judged by a three-member panel composed of Josh S. Weston, honorary chairman of Automatic Data Processing, Inc.; Gerry L. Golub, chair of American Express Tax and Business Services; and Michael J. Connelly, president and CEO of Mosaica Education, Inc.

Mr. Bohm, a graduate of The Yeshiva of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, MD, wrote a plan for a teeth-whitening business meant to be affordable to middle- and lower-income clients.

Lawrence Bellman, PhD, director of the Rennert Entrepreneurial Institute at Sy Syms School of Business, said “Joey’s plan was solid, and there is a market for his proposed service. Everyone wants to whiten their teeth, but not everyone wants to spend $700 to $1,000.”

Dr. Bellman said Mr. Bohm impressed the judges “because he attempted to answer all questions in a very straightforward manner.”

In the presentation of his plan, Mr. Bohm said US consumers spent $1.3 billion on teeth-whitening products in 2004. He said his proposed company would tap into this market with a competitive, low-cost, high-quality teeth whitening procedure intended for middle and working-class customers.