Bold Ideas, Bright Futures: Hartwick Students Step Into the Startup Spotlight
On May 6, Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta partnered to host the region’s first joint Startup Pitch Competition, bringing 14 teams of students together in a celebration of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial drive. Among the presenters at SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Conference Center were four students from Hartwick’s Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation Hawk Ventures Incubator, who developed their businesses as part of this immersive program designed to empower aspiring entrepreneurs.
Runyararo Chaora ’25, a biochemistry and mathematics double major, won Hartwick’s $500 prize for her venture, MentorLink, a career service platform designed to bridge the mentorship and networking gap for young professionals. “Making it to the top three teams and being announced as the Hartwick winner was a surreal moment for my team and I,” said Chaora. “We worked so hard to refine our idea, constantly asking people for more feedback and consistently going back to the drawing board. My team and I have plans to continue building our company in the future.”
The competition, hosted at SUNY Oneonta, was the result of a new partnership between the two colleges and led by Adam Chaloeicheep, Hartwick’s entrepreneur-in-residence at the Griffiths Center for Collaboration and Innovation. “From the start, I envisioned a joint competition,” said Chaloeicheep. “ In my experience, entrepreneurship is a powerful bonding mechanism: as you wrestle with what to create—riding the emotional highs and lows, pivoting, and hunting for proof that your idea deserves to exist—the journey can feel lonely. Sharing that process with peers supplies motivation and support.”
Also pitching their ventures were Hartwick students Chelsea Kotey ’25, creator of Passage to the World, which offers immersive cultural experiences through curated experience boxes and digital storytelling; Magnus Scolaro ’28, founder of Ditzy Bug Studios, which produces inclusive animated content with a focus on the LGBTQ community; and Oiram Duenas-Valles ’26, who developed Gift Genie, an AI-powered gifting assistant.
The competition’s panel of judges featured five Oneonta-area business leaders: Ryan Brooks, third-generation owner of Brooks’ House of BBQ; Tyler Walsh, owner of Stoneonta; Hank Lobb ’99, director of community innovation at Springbrook; Ben Guenther, president and CEO of Five Star Subaru; and Sarah Hartmann, founder and CEO of Vêsucré.
The event followed a strong showing by Kotey ’25, a biochemistry major who previously advanced to the state finals of the New York Business Plan Competition. “Winning the Mohawk Valley Regional was incredibly affirming,” Kotey said. “It gave me the confidence to believe that even as a STEM student, I can create something imaginative and impactful that reaches across disciplines.”
The Hawk Ventures Incubator offers hands-on opportunities for students to explore entrepreneurial thinking, develop real business concepts, and strengthen their leadership and problem-solving skills. By focusing on high-impact sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, healthcare, and knowledge-based industries, the incubator equips students with the mindset, experience and skills to innovate across emerging fields. It positions Hartwick students to lead with purpose and ready to drive meaningful change in a fast-changing world.
