{"id":924,"date":"2017-05-03T10:15:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T14:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/business-educational-information\/?p=924"},"modified":"2024-01-30T13:50:44","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T18:50:44","slug":"future-entrepreneurs-compete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/business-educational-information\/future-entrepreneurs-compete\/","title":{"rendered":"Future Entrepreneurs Compete for Awards, Cash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Future entrepreneurs descended on St. Petersburg College Seminole Campus<\/a> on Thursday, April 27 for the seventh annual Business Plan and Elevator Pitch Competition. Students competed for more than $10,000\u00a0in prize money.<\/p>\n

The competition is broken up into the Business Plan Competition, with a first prize of $5,000, and the Elevator Pitch Competition, which has a first prize of $1,000. Second place awards are $2,500, and $500, respectively. The other awards given during the competition include the Golden Fund Triple Bottom Line Award ($1,000), Food and Beverage Business Concept ($250), Green Business Concept ($250), and the people\u2019s choice award ($250), which is picked live by the audience during the ceremony.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Business Plan Competition winner is William McMillan. McMillan started his education at the St. Petersburg College Tarpon Springs Campus<\/a>, and is now an online student since he moved to North Carolina to start his business. He presented\u00a0a business plan for Coastal Grown Farms, of which he is a co-founder. Coastal Grown Farms provides hydroponically grown fruits and vegetables in Jacksonville, North Carolina. McMillan was confident in his pitch. While he was on stage, he remained focused on his message, and the problem his business hoped to solve.<\/p>\n

\u201cSPC has given me the foundation of what to look for in a business,\u201d McMillan said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/stpetecollege\/photos\/a.10155953971013368.1073741999.164802438367\/10155954041528368\/?type=3&theater<\/p>\n

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The winner of the Elevator Pitch Competition and the People\u2019s Choice Award was Erica Sager. She was pitching her plan for a charity, Color of the Case. Her plan is to sell artistic phone cases to support a worthy cause. Sager was well prepared for the evening\u2019s competition. She said that she practiced every night with her family playing the role of the judges.<\/p>\n

Emelle Turceren won second place in the business plan competition pitching Lunar Leather. Turceren already serves customers with custom leather goods at Sunset on Pier 60, and plans to use the prize money towards engraving equipment and other tools to expand her business. Other winners included:<\/p>\n