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Elevator Pitch Competition
Opportunity Background:
The Entrepreneurship Initiative is a branch of the HGCF. Each year, Mr. Grinspoon provides monetary awards to students who demonstrate the “entrepreneurial spirit” and who have a strong desire to own their own businesses.
As part of this initiative, a competition is held between participating area colleges at an annual entrepreneurship banquet. Participating institutions include American International College; Bay Path College; Elms College; Greenfield Community College; Hampshire College; Holyoke Community College; University of Massachusetts (Isenberg School of Management and the Entrepreneurship Initiative); Smith College; Springfield College; Springfield Technical Community College; Westfield State College; and, Western New England College.
At the banquet, one student representative from each institution has the opportunity to sell his/her idea to investment bankers who serve as judges via a ninety second “Elevator Pitch”. Award winners for first, second and third place, for $1,000, $750 and $500 respectively, are chosen that evening.
The Competition:
The HGCF Entrepreneurship Initiative is grateful for the support from community banks which continue to sponsor the Elevator Pitch competition. They are:
Bank of Western Mass
Berkshire Bank
Country Bank for Savings
New Alliance Bank
PeoplesBank
United Bank
Round 1: Each college or university has a system in place to choose the candidate that will compete on its behalf. Some colleges run an elevator competition on campus with an independent panel of judges who choose the best candidate to move to the live elevator pitch. Others vote through their students organizations. For information about a specific institution’s protocol, contact the Faculty Advisor at the institution of interest. Judges evaluate pitches based fifty percent on "fundability" (demonstration there is a need or market) and fifty percent on the quality of the presentation.
Round 2: The main competition at the annual entrepreneurship banquet is considered Round 2. It was held on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, at The Log Cabin in Holyoke, Massachusetts. At the live competition, students were called in random order to give their elevator pitches. Again, each student had ninety seconds only. In Round 2, the judges are area investment bankers who are accustomed to making decisions regarding financing new business ventures. Judges chose winners based solely on the caliber of the ninety second pitches. This means participants were allowed to use 1 3x5 note card, but not allowed to use any technology, handouts, or props. Contestants have ninety seconds only.
The finalist and a guest received free admission to the banquet. Students who participated in Round 1 were encouraged to attend the banquet to support their institutions’ representative and hear some excellent speakers. The cost per ticket is only $10 per person. Students interested in attending the banquet should register through the faculty advisor form their institution.
Eligibility:
- Undergraduate or graduate students enrolled full-time at one of the participating institutions during the current academic year
- Individuals or teams of two students
- Students chosen to represent their college in the live Elevator Pitch Competition are available to deliver their pitches in person in Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at The Log Cabin
Past Elevator Pitch Winners:
2009:
First Place: Amanda Schlosky (Bay Path College) - Popper Stopper: the innovative new ear plug device that takes the painful pressure out of flying.
Second place: Lucy Gent (Smith College) - Solar Car Shade which allows you to protect your car from damaging sunlight while generating electricity at the same time.
Third Place: Tynsha Blanks (Holyoke Community College) - Snack Backs which is a handy food storage system to keep food fresh and accessible in a backpack.
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Congratulations to all winners!
Thank you to our competition sponsors:
Bank of Western Massachusetts, Berkshire Bank , Country Bank for Savings
New Alliance Bank, PeoplesBank, United Bank
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Back to Past Elevator Pitch Winners by Year
First Place: Kimberly Barbato (Bay Path College ) - Healthy Habits: your personal food image monitor! Healthy Habits allows you to take a photo of everything you eat with your cell phone, and instantly analyzes your meal for portion size and nutrition content. Using existing technology that matches the image of your daily meals to over 2 million images in the program database, Healthy Habits relays instant advice back to you via your cell phone, indicating how much you should eat and what to stay away from. The program uploads your meals onto your personalized Healthy Habits website via your cell phone connection, allowing you to track your diet and make healthier choices.
Second place: Sawna Caradwyn (Holyoke Community College) - M.O.M. (My Other Maid) Worried parents and busy students will have one less thing to worry about, thanks to Holyoke Community College's Sawna Cardwyn's innovative business, M.O.M. (My Other Maid). M.O.M. is a laundry and maid service for college students in the Pioneer Valley, providing a convenient way for students to have clean rooms, clean clothes and fresh linens. And with the conscience of Mom, M.O.M. will use eco-friendly products and provide organic, all-cotton laundry bags. When Mom can't be there, M.O.M. can!
Third Place (tie): Jeremiah Micka (Holyoke Community College Conference Raffle Winner) - Green Machine. Want to be eco-conscious, but don't have time to shop around? Stop by the Green Machine, a retail store for renewable energy products. Featuring two distinct departments, "Energy Creators" and "Energy savers," the store will sell sought-after products such as solar panels, solar panel backpacks, energy efficient light bulbs, trash compactors, etc. You name it, the Green Machine has got it. Finally, a store where you can truly go green!
Third Place (tie): Lilith Dornhuber deBellesiles(Amith College) - Ethical Gems. Lilith, a senior at Smith College, is the founder of Ethical Gems, a Fair Trade business bringing ethically-mined, cut, and distributed gems from India to the U.S. Her inspired project involves researching the gems to insure that they are not blood jewels, so that customers can shop with a clear conscience. With the goal of promoting the cultural significance of jewels, she will focus on India's finest gems, to bring beautiful and unusual pieces to the U.S. market, and will reinvested profits to sustain the gem cutting tradition by educating a younger generation in the craft.
Back to Past Elevator Pitch Winners by Year
2007:
First Place: Aubrey Malanowski ( Bay Path College ) “Medlink” is an innovative new technology designed to streamline the patient information process in medical offices in one simple step. As small and simple to use as a USB flash drive, this universal web-based software allows patients to update their medical information and fill out forms prior to visits, drastically decreasing wait time in-office.
Second Place: Elizabeth M. Curran (Western New England College) “Consumer Electronic Ordering System” is the first tableside, customizable consumer electronic ordering system for restaurants who are seeking a way to reduce costs, improve customer service, and increase table turnover. CEOS, Inc. is a marketer and installer of customized software packages and POS screens in restaurants
Third Place: Rebecca Freeman (Smith College)“Gut Instinct / SipSafe©”, will specialize in protecting tourists against waterborne diseases with an innovative product, SipSafe©, which uses existing technology in a new way. Others in this field have penetrated developing country markets with a water-purifying straw that is 99.99 percent effective. However, in addition to being large and uncomfortable to drink through, this existing product is not available on domestic or European markets. In response to the unmet demand for greater travel safety, Gut Instinct will adapt the existing technology to a travel-friendly size and package appealing to Western tourists. (Rebecca Freeman's pitch is dedicated to her late brother, Jacob Freeman, September 11, 1986 - April 2, 2007.)
Back to Past Elevator Pitch Winners by Year
2006:
First Place: Bing C. Mei (UMASS) “Pharma Solutus” (RxSol) is a biomaterials company that designs and develops innovative and unique drug delivery technology.
Second Place: Perry Loud (Springfield College) “Alternative to Violence”, Incorporated (ATV, Inc.), a behavior modification program for schoolchildren.
Third Place: Patrick Bobilin (Hampshire College) “Cornerstor” is a storage device that efficiently and stylishly uses the upper corners of rooms for storage.
Back to Past Elevator Pitch Winners by Year
First Place: Yarniece Hamlett (Bay Path College) – “Marie’s College Travel” will specialize in coordinating college tours and visits for school groups, individuals, and clubs/organizations (i.e. community programs or churches). College tours will be scheduled during students’ regularly scheduled time off and/or requested dates. The company will provide the transportation, hotel and booking of college tours and meetings. Revenues will be generated from fees paid by parents and students, as well as grants and sponsorships from organizations.
Second Place: Krysten Oates (Smith College) - The Perfect Popper is the ideal portable device to use in conjunction with any conventional microwave to ensure that every bag of microwave popcorn is popped perfectly. The best way to enjoy such a salty snack is no longer to watch the popcorn bag spin around in the microwave for up to four minutes. Now the Perfect Popper makes use of a microphone to aurally sense the pops of the exploding kernels. After the maximum recommended time period of three seconds has passed without an audible pop, the Perfect Popper internal timer will set off an alarm so you know when your popcorn is done, even if your microwave is not.
Third Place: Kerry Pierce (UMass) - Textics seeks to publish and deliver online multimedia e-textbooks to the collegiate marketplace. As an Internet company that couples technology with a modern business model, Textics is able to easily enter and disrupt the traditional Textbook industry as a low-cost entrant.
Back to Past Elevator Pitch Winners by Year
First Place: Alex Cohen (UMASS) – A new software package that can replace current fileserver.
Second Place: Heather Kiersnowski (Bay Path College) – A health care advocacy business for the elderly
Third Place: David Hart (Westfield State College) – Phantom Screen Systems for custom built homes.
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