WINONA LAKE - Grace College finance major Tyler Brechbiel, of Chambersburg, Pa., was awarded $5,000 at the 13th annual Grace College Business Plan Competition on April 24.
His high-performance supplement for athletes, Recovery+ Champion Fuel, won the first-place prize. Brechbiel plans to use the $5,000 to fund the first production run of Champion Fuel, finalize packaging and expand his email list and online presence to prepare for the official Amazon launch this summer, according to a news release from Grace.
"Tyler's business plan demonstrated his strong business acumen along with his passion and knowledge of his target market," said Glenn Grossman, assistant professor of finance and entrepreneurship at Grace College. "All the business plans presented demonstrated the students' skills and passion, but Tyler edged out his fellow students with a business that has a strong potential for growth backed by his expertise in athletics."
Recovery+ is a supplement for athletes that combines creatine, electrolytes and essential vitamins in one optimized formula.
“I came up with the idea through my journey as a college baseball pitcher,” said Brechbiel. “After struggling with repeated injuries, I became passionate about natural recovery, performance nutrition and clean supplementation.”
Brechbiel developed his product concept last summer, but the class that accompanies the Business Plan Competition Practicum helped him refine his business model and move the product idea forward. After nearly a year of hard work, the news that he won first place came as a sweet reward, the release states.
“I was incredibly grateful and super excited,” he said. “There were so many amazing ideas presented. It feels great to see all the hard work pay off, especially knowing how much time and effort I’ve put into this business.”
As Brechbiel reflects on his business journey, he is quick to express appreciation to those who helped along the way.
“I’m incredibly thankful to Grace College for hosting the competition, my mentors who helped refine my pitch and to God for opening this door,” said Brechbiel. “This is just the beginning for Recovery+, and I’m excited to help athletes perform and recover.”
The Grace College Business Plan Competition was run by the William P. Gordon Institute for Enterprise Development and sponsored by Strategic Venture Partners, Beacons United, First Source Bank, Lake City Restoration and Wildman Business Group. A total of $12,000 was awarded to the top four student businesses. Ethan Stucky was awarded the competition’s first People’s Choice award with more than 1,000 votes. The Business Plan Competition is one of many opportunities Grace College provides its students to turn their dreams and goals into a reality.
To learn more about Recovery+, TryRecoveryPlus.com.
For more information about the School of Business, visit www.grace.edu/academics/undergraduate/academic-schools-departments/school-of-business/.