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Ben Gamel grabs International League Rookie of the Year award

Investors ‘decide not to be involved’ in W-B Area school project

<p>PLYMOUTH &#8212; When Alec Ryncavage begins his four-year stint at Wyoming Valley West High School Wednesday, he may walk with a bit of a swagger, induced by the business cards already in his wallet, or the mega-bucks he expects to add shortly.</p><p>The Plymouth 14-year-old begins his freshman year not only with his own tech start-up (A.R. Enterprises) humming away in an office in Kingston, but also with his first product expected to hit the direct-to-buyer market by November and be on the shelves of retail stores by December.</p><p>The big biz breakthrough: A USB stick drive pre-loaded with anti-virus software.</p><p>You say: &#8220;Anti-virus software thumb drive? That&#8217;s an interesting idea.&#8221;</p><p>He leans forward slightly, a glint in his eye, and corrects you: &#8220;It&#8217;s a <em>revolutionary</em> idea.&#8221;</p><p>Think of it as a small but vital tool you tuck in a pocket for an emergency, a sort of epi-pen for your hard drive. Virus strikes, stick drive &#8212; dubbed &#8220;VirusRem&#8221; &#8212; goes in, software self-installs and goes to work, virus is gone.</p><p>As a bonus, the program deletes itself from the stick drive, giving you more portable storage at no extra charge &#8212; also, not coincidentally, making it a one-use device that you&#8217;ll want to replace.</p><p>The price? A scant $24.99, Alec said. Then, like a budding businessman pitching his product on &#8220;Shark Tank,&#8221; he tosses in the lure of bigger sales through lower prices. &#8220;We expect to get that down to $19.99.&#8221;</p><p>Incidentally, Alec has no interest in begging the TV show sharks to invest. He&#8217;s turning to Kickstarter first.</p><p>Where does an idea like this come from? Hours, even weeks or months of brain busting? Not so much.</p><p>&#8220;I just woke up with it one morning,&#8221; Alec said.</p><p>After that, the tech part was relatively easy, Alec already programs in five languages. But the marketing? Not his forte.</p><p>Enter Michael Plaksin, class of &#8216;74 and president of the recently-formed Wyoming Valley West Education Foundation. Plaksin works in marketing near Los Angeles, and the two met in June when Alec, as an eighth-grade student, won a service award named for Plaksin&#8217;s parents Philip and Gilda.</p><p>Plaksin learned of the drive idea, helped with the marketing, and was so impressed he introduced Alec to district teachers gathered Tuesday for in-service training prior to the start of classes.</p><p>Alec earned the introduction because, along with VirusRem, he has been drumming up commitments from area business executives to help the high school purchase new notebook computers.</p><p>&#8220;He will be the first individual from the school district making a donation to the foundation, and he&#8217;s not even an alumnus yet,&#8221; Plaksin told the teachers.</p><p>Alec isn&#8217;t shy about his dreams: He&#8217;s hoping this will make him rich, possibly taking off so successfully he ends up selling to some larger company like anti-virus giant Norton.</p><p>With his own website &#8212; thearenterprises.com &#8212; and his own office (which he concedes comes courtesy of an uncle who retired from his insurance business and gave the space to Alec&#8217;s dad/business partner), Alec is already looking ahead.</p><p>&#8220;I have a few ideas that I&#8217;m not willing to talk about.&#8221;</p><p>So, with all that expertise, can we get him to do a little programming for a fee?</p><p>He answers like a business tycoon who has long outgrown his entrepreneurial roots.</p><p>&#8220;I used to freelance. I don&#8217;t need to now.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West High School Freshman Alec Ryncavage, 14, has started his own business and is drumming up enough financial commitment from other business owners to buy new computers for the school through the School District&#8217;s education foundation. At right is Michael Plaksin President of the foundation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL090215wvwalex.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West High School Freshman Alec Ryncavage, 14, has started his own business and is drumming up enough financial commitment from other business owners to buy new computers for the school through the School District&#8217;s education foundation. At right is Michael Plaksin President of the foundation. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

14-year-old business owner becomes first big donor to Wyoming Valley West foundation