Since the establishment of the Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence for student business plans in 1987, Salisbury University has been a training ground for entrepreneurship.

The winners of this semester’s round of SU’s Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation Shore Hatchery entrepreneurship competition built on that reputation. Five out of six were SU students and alumni.

Night Ice, LLC, a Salisbury-based business formed by SU senior Josh Woozley of Middletown, was this round’s big winner, earning $30,000 in funding. The company’s affordable advanced ice therapy units, marketed primarily to physical therapists and athletic trainers, are expected to have an impact on health care in the region and beyond. Woozley is a previous SU Entrepreneurship Competition winner.

The fall 2020 Ratcliffe Foundation Shore Hatchery competition, held virtually for the second time as a precaution against COVID-19, drew some 13 applicants from throughout the Mid-Atlantic and awarded $95,000 in prize money. Other winners included:

• The Buzz Meadery – Brett and Megan Hines: Maryland Class 4 limited winery specializing in small-batch mead made with locally sourced fruit and honey, from Berlin – $20,000. (Megan Hines is an SU Ed.D. student and adjunct professor of early and elementary education in SU’s Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education. She is a previous SU Entrepreneurship Competition winner.)

• Capsulomics – Daniel Lunz: Actionable genomic tests to detect, prevent and guide treatments of gastrointestinal cancers, with an initial focus on esophageal cancer, from Baltimore – $15,000.

• Valkyrie Software Solutions – Cameron Kane: Accessibility software for the video game industry, with an initial focus on audio accessibility, from Glenn Dale: $10,000. (Kane is a recent SU graduate and multi-year SU Entrepreneurship Competition winner.)

• CLUTCH by Tia Dash – Shantiyyah Hobby: Trendy, hand-crafted, budget-friendly purses geared toward college students, from Salisbury – $10,000. (Hobby, of Dover, Del., is a senior in SU’s Glenda Chatham and Robert G. Clarke Honors College and a previous SU Entrepreneurship Competition winner.)

• SIMPLi – Matthew Cohen: Socially and environmentally sustainable platform for sourcing ingredients from international farming communities, from Washington, D.C.: $10,000. (Cohen is a 2012 SU graduate.)

In addition to funding, winners and participants also receive mentoring support from the program’s board. Mentors include business leaders such as Chris Perdue of Perdue Farms, Inc.; Mike Cottingham of Rommel Chesapeake, Inc.; Kathy Kiernan and Patricia Royak, members of SU’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business Executive Advisory Council; and Jennifer Layton of Layton’s Chance Vineyard and Winery.

This round’s winners join the program’s 65 previous award recipients, who have self-reported estimated profits of some $55 million, creating more than 400 jobs.

For more information, call 410-546-4325 or visit www.salisbury.edu/shore-hatchery.