| Course | PM 490 Project Management Capstone (PM/490) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Project charter and initiation paper |
| Length | about 1,046 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PM 490 Week 1
Chartering the Barn: A Project Charter for a Hudson Valley Cidery's Tasting Room and Event Space
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
PM/490: Project Management Capstone
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Stone Lantern Cider Works, its owners, budget and figures are composites written for a model paper.
Stone Lantern Cider Works is a composite family business on a 60-acre orchard in Ulster County, New York, run by siblings Clara and Tom Vandermeer. It presses about 40,000 gallons of hard cider a year from its own and neighbors' apples and sells mainly through distributors, farmers markets and a small shed counter. On autumn weekends hundreds of visitors stop to pick apples nearby, and many ask where they can taste the cider. Next to the cider house stands an 1880s dairy barn, structurally sound but unused. The owners want to convert it into a tasting room and event space. This paper presents the charter for that project, the subject of the capstone.
Business Need
Distributor sales earn the cidery about $4.20 a bottle in gross margin; direct sales in a tasting room would earn about $11 on the same bottle, and pours and flights earn more. Visitor counts from the neighboring farm's pick-your-own season, about 38,000 people from September through October, suggest a large nearby audience. The owners also receive about two requests a month for weddings and private events that they cannot host. A tasting room would raise margins, build the brand with visitors from the New York City area and open an events business. Shenhar et al. (2001) argued that project success should be judged on several dimensions, including business results and preparing the organization for the future; this project serves both.
Strategic Fit
The owners' five-year plan has two goals: depend less on distributors, whose margins have fallen as chains consolidate, and build a brand that visitors carry home to the city. A tasting room serves both. It also uses an asset the business already owns; the barn costs about $6,000 a year in insurance and upkeep while producing nothing. The alternative the owners considered, renting a storefront in the nearest village, would have cost less to fit out but would have separated visitors from the orchard, which is the experience they come for. The barn keeps tasting, the orchard and the cider house in one place.
Purpose and Objectives
Purpose: open a year-round tasting room and seasonal event space in the restored barn before the next harvest season.
Objectives:
Open the tasting room by September 1 with seating for 120 inside and 80 on a covered deck.
Reach direct sales of at least $520,000 in the first full year, with at least 30 percent of production still sold through distributors.
Host at least 24 private events in the first full year.
Complete the project within a budget of $1.18 million.
Preserve the barn's exterior so the building remains eligible for local landmark recognition.
Scope
In scope: structural repairs and restoration of the barn shell; interior fit-out with a tasting bar, seating, restrooms meeting accessibility standards and a small prep area for cheese and charcuterie boards; a covered deck; a 70-space gravel parking area; septic expansion; permits and approvals; staff hiring and training; a point-of-sale system; and opening marketing.
Out of scope: a full restaurant kitchen, overnight lodging, changes to cider production and any new orchard planting. These may be considered later.
Writing down what the project will not build is the cheapest risk response in the whole charter.
Milestones
Township site plan and special use permit approved: January 31.
State liquor authority approval of the tasting room premises: March 15.
Structural repairs complete: April 30.
Septic and parking complete: May 31.
Interior fit-out complete: July 15.
Staff hired and trained: August 15.
Tasting room open: September 1, two weeks before the regional harvest festival.
Summary Budget
Total $1,180,000: barn structure and restoration $410,000; interior fit-out $290,000; deck $85,000; septic and parking $120,000; design, engineering and permits $95,000; furniture, equipment and point of sale $65,000; hiring, training and opening marketing $45,000; and contingency $70,000. Funding comes from a farm loan of $900,000 and $280,000 of the owners' savings.
Stakeholders
The owners, as sponsors; the project manager, Erin Delgado, a family friend with construction management experience hired for the project; the architect and structural engineer; the general contractor; the town board and planning board; the state liquor authority; the county health department for septic and food service; neighbors on the road, concerned about traffic and noise; the neighboring pick-your-own farm, a likely partner; current distributors, who may worry about competition; and future staff.
Assumptions and Constraints
Assumptions: permits are obtainable under the town's agricultural tourism provisions; the barn's frame can carry the planned loads with targeted repairs; the loan closes by December. Constraints: the September 1 opening date, the $1.18 million budget, preservation of the barn's exterior, the cidery's own production calendar, which ties up the owners from September to November, and winter conditions limiting exterior work until April.
High-Level Risks
Five risks lead the list: permit delays or conditions from the planning board; hidden structural damage once interior boards are removed; contractor availability in a busy regional market; neighbor opposition at the public hearing; and cost increases in timber and materials. Each will be analyzed in the Week 2 plan.
Success Criteria and Authority
The project succeeds if the tasting room opens by September 1, within budget, with all permits and inspections passed, and if first-year sales and events meet the objectives. Müller and Turner (2007) found that project managers and sponsors weigh success criteria differently by project type, which is why the criteria are written down now. A charter exists partly to grant this authority: the standard treats it as the sponsor's formal authorization of the project and of the project manager's use of resources (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2021). Delgado has authority to manage the contractor and consultants, approve changes up to $10,000 each within the budget and use up to half the contingency; larger changes and any change to the opening date require both owners' approval.
Approval
Approved by Clara Vandermeer and Tom Vandermeer, owners and sponsors, with Erin Delgado as project manager.
Conclusion
The charter gives Stone Lantern's barn project a clear reason, measurable objectives, a firm scope line, dated milestones, a budget, named stakeholders, recorded assumptions and risks and written authority. It is concise enough for the owners to sign and specific enough for the Week 2 plan to build on.
References
Müller, R., & Turner, R. (2007). The influence of project managers on project success criteria and project success by type of project. European Management Journal, 25(4), 298-309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2007.06.003
Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Shenhar, A. J., Dvir, D., Levy, O., & Maltz, A. C. (2001). Project success: A multidimensional strategic concept. Long Range Planning, 34(6), 699-725. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0024-6301(01)00097-8
What the PM 490 Week 1 instructions ask
The first PM 490 assignment typically asks students to initiate a capstone project by developing a project charter or initiation document. Common elements are the business need or problem, project purpose and objectives, high-level requirements and scope, deliverables, milestones, a summary budget, key stakeholders, assumptions and constraints, high-level risks, success criteria and the project manager's authority, with sponsor approval. Some versions also ask for a brief explanation of why the project was selected or how it supports organizational strategy. Choose a project with enough substance to carry through the course, write each charter section concisely and specifically and back the initiation choices with the standard plus a few research articles, all in APA.
How this PM 490 Week 1 example is built
In this model, the capstone charter is written for a cidery owned by two siblings who sell most of their cider through farmers markets and distributors and want a share of the visitors who pass the orchard on autumn weekends. The business case compares the expected margin from tasting room sales and events with the $1.18 million cost. Objectives are set with numbers and dates, and the scope section is as clear about what is excluded, a restaurant kitchen and overnight lodging, as about what is included. Seven milestones run from permit approval to an opening before the harvest festival. Stakeholders, assumptions, constraints and five leading risks follow, and the charter closes with the project manager's spending authority and the owners' signatures.
PM 490 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Graders review a charter as a sponsor would. High-scoring submissions state a clear business need with evidence, write objectives a sponsor could check later and draw the scope boundary explicitly, including exclusions. They give milestones and a summary budget that are realistic for the project, identify the stakeholders who can affect or be affected by it, record assumptions and constraints and list high-level risks. The project manager's authority and the approval line should be explicit. Charters that link the project to the organization's strategy and support key claims with sources score higher. Conciseness, consistent figures, clear headings and correct APA formatting complete a strong paper.
PM 490 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
Capstone charters often choose a project too small to sustain five weeks of work or too vague to plan. Pick one with real deliverables, stakeholders and constraints. Another frequent problem is objectives written as activities, such as renovate the barn, rather than results with measures and dates. Rewrite them as outcomes. Students also leave scope open-ended; listing what is out of scope prevents later disputes. Some charters omit the project manager's authority, which is one of the main reasons charters exist. State the spending and decision limits. Finally, keep it concise: a charter authorizes and frames the project; detailed plans come in Week 2. If you are unsure whether your project is big enough for the capstone, a tutor can help you judge.
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PM 490 Week 1 questions, answered
What does PM 490 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers initiating the capstone project with a project charter: the business need, objectives, scope, deliverables, milestones, budget, stakeholders, assumptions, risks, success criteria and the project manager's authority.
Where can I find a free PM 490 Week 1 sample paper?
A full Week 1 capstone charter for a Hudson Valley cidery's tasting room project appears above and costs nothing to read.
What is a project charter?
A document issued by the sponsor that formally authorizes a project, states its purpose and objectives at a high level and gives the project manager authority to use resources.
What should be in the scope section of a charter?
A high-level description of the main deliverables and requirements, plus clear statements of what is excluded, so that everyone shares the same boundary from the start.
How do you write measurable project objectives?
State the result, the measure, the target and the date, for example opening the tasting room by September 1 with 120 seats and annual sales of at least $520,000 in the first full year.
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