Former Patriot wins biz plan competition

April 25, 2011|Globe Staff, Globe Staff

Globe Staff

From pigskin to pancakes, from Foxborough football to French flapjacks --- we're talking about quite a career change here.

Once upon a time, Matt Chatham was a linebacker for the New England Patriots, but now, in a post-football reincarnation, he is looking to be a big-time entrepreneur with a crepe franchising business. And he just might make it.

Chatham is currently an MBA student at Babson College, and his idea for a fast-food crepe franchise called SkyCrepers recently won the top prize in the school's Douglass Foundation Graduate Business Plan Competition, which is awarded to an individual or team of graduate students submitting and presenting the most promising business plan. (Chatham is shown at right in a Globe file photo from his Patriots days.)

Everyday folks might be a bit put off by the notion of the humble pancake masquerading as haute cuisine, but according to a Babson press release, SkyCrepers has done a fine job of bridging "the gap between the street cart and the foo-foo caf�."

As the winner of the competition, SkyCrepers received $20,000 in cash, plus services in-kind worth more than $40,000, Babson said.

SkyCrepers is gearing up to open its first location, which is planned for the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro, Babson said.