Nineteen teams have moved to the next round of the fifth annual Emporia Entrepreneurial Challenge, a venture idea competition for students at Emporia State University and Flint Hills Technical College.
The event began in January with 41 teams submitting entries. Students on the 19 teams selected Monday will have until early March to refine their big ideas and prepare for oral presentations.
On March 6 and 7, semifinalists will have 15 minutes to pitch their final business plans to a panel of judges and answer a series of questions. Next, teams will participate in a Community Showcase on March 13, where they will set up interactive booths for their concepts. This event will be held in the Skyline Room at Emporia State from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is open to the public after 11 a.m. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three teams: $2,500 for first, $1,500 for second, and $500 for third.
On April 10, the top few teams will work with community resources for feedback and suggestions on their business plan and pitch at the “Share Your Idea Night” hosted by the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce at the Trusler Business Center in downtown Emporia. This will help prepare the top winning teams for the state competition on April 24 in Manhattan.
The 19 semifinalist teams and their project names include:
- Mohammed Alsalman, Bo Hassan
- Derrick Barger, Barger Financial
- Christina Brunton, Workout Builder
- Clinton Henderson, iCare
- Allyssa Henry, The Mentality App
- Rob Lara, Flint Hills Underground Living
- Tara Lierz and Jasmine Jones, Self-Control Achievement
- Austin Lingenfelter, Mason Esch and Owen Reed, iMatter
- Zhao Liu and Sergio Felipe Escobar Forero, DIY Baker
- Payson Maydew and Shannon Kane, Emporia Pet Watch
- Carissa McAfee, Expression Through Art
- Mallory Mitchell and Sarah Durham, Late Night Scoop
- Ryan Pearson, Pools by Pearson
- Farhan Sadique, BallSpotter
- Taylor Sanagorski and Layne Downing, Mini Mike
- DeWayne Sanford, Team Soulja
- David Szabo, PodShack
- Jack Wilson, Trey Taylor and Dylan Holden, BUZZ Parking
- Tomu Yamamoto, Seong Ju Lee and Jisub Kim, JK