The competition is hosted by the Binghamton Local Development Corporation and SUNY Broome's Entrepreneurial Assistance Program, aiming to support local start-ups grow their business and make connections within the community

The competition gives out $7,500 in prize money to three winners, with separate prizes for first, second, and third place.

This year's first-place winner was civic alert systems for their work allowing municipalities to connect with residents through text messaging.

Second place went to umahari for its work with cost-effective and environmentally friendly fertilizer.

And third place went to 2nd Heaven Bubble Tea, owned by a Binghamton University alum.

The 15th annual Binghamton Business Plan Competition cultivates local business development and provides valuable resources to start-up companies.

Civic Alert Systems received $5,000 for placing first.

The start-up is owned by Vestal natives Jason Duda and Ryan Crist.

"Civic alert systems allows local governments and municipalities to provide information directly to residents through text messages. The startup aims to make it easier for local governments like Binghamton to communicate directly with the public from real-time updates during emergencies or unplanned issues or scheduled messages, with less urgent information to be sent at a later time," said City of Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham.

Still in its early stages, winning the competition gives Civil Alert Systems a huge boost by providing connections to local accounting and legal services, $2,000 additional dollars towards marketing and branding services, a one-year membership with the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, and a three-month co-working membership at the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator.

Ryan Crist, Co-owner of Civic Alert Systems says, "It's incredibly motivating. I think this is really what we need to keep going, you know, basically as well as just a support network of all of the professionals around us today."

They hope to begin work with a pilot customer as early as the end of summer 2024.