Student entrepreneurs from Grove City College took top awards in the Pittsburgh Technology Council Civic Hackathon.
Cameron Suorsa ’21, of Slippery Rock, Pa., was on the winning second-place team and A.J. Bernsdorff ’23, of Sylvania, Ohio, was a finalist in the virtual competition, which challenged students to “build” a successful business over a weekend.
Soursa’s AdRider team included alumni Jordan Horst '18 and Logan Hammerschmitt '16, who led the team. Their proposed business would use a network of digital advertising on the sides of Pittsburgh city buses to reduce fares, increase revenue for the Port Authority and promote local small business.
Bernsdorff led the Media Bud team, which proposed a platform to link small business to contract workers to handle social media tasks. Media Bud made the finals for the weekend-long competition.
The Pittsburgh Technology Council Civic Hackathon challenged entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas, form teams, and build a business in about 50 hours over the weekend of Jan. 29 to 31. Ten teams were formed on Friday evening, with the event culminating Sunday afternoon in the final presentations.
It’s one of many events and competitions that Entrepreneurship students at Grove City College participate in through the Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation to hone their skills and build their knowledge of the business world.
The Hackathon was co-produced by RustBuilt and sponsored by BNY Mellon, CGI and IQ inc.
For more about Entrepreneurship at Grove City College, visit gccentrepreneurship.com.