Saving money is essential to almost every college student, and one Syracuse University student is capitalizing on that need.

Richard Lewis, a dual entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises and finance major recently launched his new company, StudentTicket, which started selling tickets last week. The new business aims to make getting great deals in the Syracuse community even easier.

StudentTicket works similarly to a credit card. When students go to local businesses and show their StudentTicket card, they automatically get discounts.

The card costs just ten dollars a year for anyone in the Syracuse area who has proof of enrollment at a university. After using just a few of the deals, the card pays for itself — just the way Lewis said he intended it to work.

To take StudentTicket further, Lewis is working with the Couri Hatchery. This business incubator, which is run through the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at SU, helps over 130 startups to manage and build their businesses.

Elizabeth Wimer, a professor in the Whitman School said she invited the owners of Recess Coffee, a local coffeehouse and roastery, to share their story with her class, which Lewis takes.

Lewis and his team have never gone into debt because, by getting businesses involved, they began generating revenue before a single StudentTicket was sold. This funded the printing of StudentTicket cards and allows Lewis to keep the cost low for student buyers.

Lewis said StudentTicket gives students an incentive to explore the local community.

Linda Hartsock, recently appointed executive director of the Blackstone LaunchPad, a new entrepreneurship program at SU, said this community connection is ideal.

“Area businesses are eager to connect with Syracuse University students who come here from around the world,” Hartsock said. “StudentTicket helps facilitate that interaction through incentives from participating local establishments that see (it) as a way to welcome Syracuse students.”

But StudentTicket does more than aim to save students money and promote Syracuse businesses. Lewis said he hopes to bridge the gap between the campus and the community.

One dollar from each purchase is donated to the Institute for Veteran and Military Families in Syracuse.

Businesses such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Shirt World and M Street Brick Oven Pizza are all a part of StudentTicket. Select deals are printed on the card, but more can be found on the company’s website.

Although StudentTicket just began selling its discount cards and has only existed for two months, it already has more than 100 student customers.

“When students support local merchants, dollars stay local and they support the arts, the environment, libraries and other things that make for better quality of life,” said Hartsock. “This is a model that can easily be taken to other colleges and communities.”

The StudentTicket team is taking Hartsock’s message to heart. Though it’s a relatively new business, Lewis said it’s already looking to expand. He and his team are already approaching businesses in Burlington, Vermont, and preparing to begin selling to students there in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, they still are adding new businesses in Syracuse. Lewis said he tries to add two or three businesses every couple of days.

“There’s so much around us, yet our only focus is on Marshall Street,” Lewis said. “My goal is to nurture the local economy by introducing students to everything it has to offer.”

Published on March 28, 2016 at 11:32 pm

Contact Josh: jfeinbla@syr.edu