Grove City College students pitched their ideas for new businesses and won cash during the 2018 Elevator Pitch Competition hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation (E+I).
Twenty-four pitches were heard by a panel of alumni judges and eight students walked away with $2,700 in cash prizes for their ability to “sell” investors on their social and commercial enterprise ideas. The winning students were chosen as finalists from among 187 pitches by students in 26 different majors. Students presented in an earlier qualifying round to reach the finals.
“We are thrilled to provide a platform for almost 200 students from a variety of majors to show off their creativity and big ideas. It’s inspirational and energizing for everyone involved,” Yvonne (Korloch ’97) English, executive director of E+I.
Social enterprise winners are:
- First place ($500) – Jordan Wirth ’19, an International Business major, for Cup of Joy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit café that employs adults with disabilities and supports similar organizations in the developing world.
- Second place ($400) – Emily Geiger ’20, an Entrepreneurship major, for Hesed, an anonymous app for sexual assault victims that helps provide faith-based resources and redemption.
- Third place ($300) – Kaylee Grieb ’22, an Accounting major, for Free for Lunch?, an app that helps college students connect for meals while on campus.
Commercial Enterprise winners are:
- First place ($500) – Lindsey Cummings ’22, an Entrepreneurship major, for Build A Bra, an online personalized bra design company.
- Second place ($400) – Tate Ostrowski ’22, a Marketing major, for AR Construct, which allows construction workers to create a 3D map of projects to make work safer and more efficient.
- Third place ($300) – Peyton Brogan ’22, an Entrepreneurship major, Package Safe, providing a solution to combat package theft.
- Fourth place ($200) – Amanda Mayer ’22, an Entrepreneurship major, for AK on Wheels, a food truck that serves Alaskan Cuisine to the people of the Lower-48.
- Fifth place ($100) – Julia Roper ’20, a Spanish major, for Liquid, a bottle equipped with vertical hot and cold compartments to carry liquids of two different temperatures at one time.
The final round judges were: Sheila Weatherly ’03, director of Pricing at Knichel Logistics; Larry Tinkey ’71, retired tax accountant and business consultant; and Zoe Simek ’14, director of Customer Experience at Payne Glasses.
“We are also thankful to have such an amazing sponsor to help us to make an event like this possible,” English noted. The competition was sponsored by Beans on Broad, Grove City.