Business major Alex Dalton develops financial education platform.
A Cal U student’s financial education platform is one of five ideas to make it to the final round of the State System Startup Challenge, sponsored by Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
At stake: prize money of up to $10,000, to be used to start or expand the winner’s business.
The final round will take place via Zoom at 6 p.m. April 22.
Cal U first-year student Alex Dalton, a business administration major in economics from McKeesport, Pa., has entered “FINFO-The Financial You Need,” a mobile app and website.
“FINFO is a platform where people can learn anything from the basics of understanding credit card debt to more advanced stock analysis,” Dalton said. “It’s a financial education community that we hope to partner up with universities to deliver concise lessons on finances to those who need it most – college students.”
Features include short video tutorials, money discussion rooms, and trending topic storyboards.
“Users can take and give in our community landscape to allow for a completely customizable experience,” Dalton said. “With the supervision of PASSHE affiliated financial experts and professional educators, it’s financial content made by students for students.”
All State System Startup Challenge competitors are encouraged to use their imagination to create their best business ideas. Each university has faculty and staff who help students prepare their ideas for launch in today’s marketplace. A team of judges reviews the submissions.
Dalton, who has been working with senior Dylan Shanaberger, worked with Dr. Mark Lennon, associate professor in Cal U’s Department of Business, Economics and Enterprise Sciences. He entered the competition last fall and went through two rounds of screening to test his knowledge of the business structure, future plans, and business viability to reach the final round of five.
“This experience has taught me so much within the business and tech world that you simply cannot learn in a classroom,” Dalton said. “I’ve learned the importance of relationships, partnerships, hard research, and more.
“I plan on using what I’ve done here to solidify myself as someone who executes on ideas within the regional business community, and I look forward to working on bigger and better projects that will help change the world."