Creative business ideas abound in Hickory

HICKORY, NC (November 23, 2016)…The City of Hickory was pleased to partner with Lenoir Rhyne University (LRU) and the Hickory Crawdads to create the first annual “Fast Pitch” event as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration.

The event, held November 16, was a business pitch competition for community members and students. Participants had three to five minutes to pitch their business ideas. Audience members voted for their favorite pitch, and the top five contestants received a cash prize of $200. The Hickory Crawdads brought their pitching machine and invited participants to throw a baseball pitch and also provided Crawdads tickets to participants and winners. It was a fun, light-hearted event that promoted creativity and entrepreneurship in the community.

This first time event was successful, with approximately 20 business pitches and many audience members in attendance. The ideas ranged from a toilet plunger storage bag to prescription lens covers for mobile phones. The top five winners and their ideas are as follows:

Tyler Kotch – Magnetic Surgical Sleeve
Dr. Timothy Schauer – Virtual Reality Event Filming
Ryan Crompton – Foody Call (late night food delivery service)
Christopher Pitharas – Half-Way Valet (on-campus valet program)
Santiago Ambroggio – Children’s inhaler cases

“Entrepreneurship is a key element of developing a thriving city and we want to encourage that type of innovation among our young people and residents,” explained Dana Kaminske, Communications and Marketing Manager for the City of Hickory. “We’re fortunate to have a great partnership with LRU and we appreciate their efforts in promoting business and entrepreneurship within our community.”

Global Entrepreneurship Week is an annual, international initiative aimed to inspire and recognize entrepreneurs. LRU actively recognizes this week each year and schedules multiple business competitions, presentations, and community discussions and panels.