Josh Terrill, 1St Place Finisher at 4Th Annual Elevator Pitch Competition

Contact: Kathy Neumeister Senior Marketing Specialist

Josh Terrill, 1st place finisher at 4th annual Elevator Pitch Competition

Platteville, WI – The Pioneer Academic Center for Community Engagement held its 4th annual Elevator Pitch Competition on February 18th, 2014 at the Markee Pioneer Student Center. A record-breaking 28 pitches were presented and six students were selected to move into a “finals round”. The six finalists included Josh Terrill, Josh Dust, Sarah Schultz, Ashley Luginbuhl, Ashton Brusca and Josh Joseph.

Students were given two minutes to convince a panel of six judges of the value of their business idea. The panel of judges was comprised of local businesspeople and included Tom Aronson, UW-Platteville alum who placed in this competition last year and founded Droptine Apparel.

The ideas ideas ranged from a sustainable ice rink to a homemade crafts online, a private practice eye clinic, and an innovative paddle kicker. The pitches varied in production, price, promotion, and distribution, leaving viewers impressed with the inspiration behind the ideas. Following their pitch, each participant met with a coach who provided feedback on their pitch.

Marcia Harr Bailey, UW-Platteville Assistant Professor and coordinator of the newly-introduced Entrepreneurship minor, was pleased to see several social entrepreneurship pitches in addition to some great for-profit ideas. “Finding a way to link a field of study with a social need is an emerging interest for many students”, she noted. “I found this event beneficial in not only improving my public speaking, but also receiving feedback from both my coach and the judges,” stated Sarah Kolb, who pitched an idea focused on education. Josh Terrill took first place; Josh Dust was second and Sarah Schultz placed third.

As moderator, Dr. Kevin Bernhardt noted in his message to participating students, “Regardless of where you finish, you are already a winner. Just putting yourself out there, taking a risk, conceptualizing an idea…you’re among the few who are demonstrating your talent.” He also noted that the judges and coaches in the room will take special notice of these students who are interested in going above and beyond in their fields.

In addition to Aronson, judges included Ed White, Brad Biddick, Gary Smith, Paul Lawinger and Ron Brisbois.