Trade show idea wins Make a Pitch; Empire junior takes first place, $500 prize

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John Cyr wants to connect young entrepreneurs to the national retail marketplace.

The Empire junior won first place and $500 at the Make a Pitch competition Thursday in Grawn Hall. His idea: To develop trade shows for college student entrepreneurs throughout the country.

Cyr and five other students each had five minutes to pitch their invention or concept to an audience of 12 people and four judges.

He said his idea would benefit college students by giving them the opportunity to represent their inventions at a national level.

“There is a disconnect between young entrepreneurs and the retail buying community,” he said.

Cyr said he came up with the idea through his experience working with trade shows. He said he will continue to work with the LaBelle Entrepreneurial Center to develop his idea.

“I’m very happy with the results,” he said.

Clarkston senior Ted Badgley won second place and $100 for his idea. Badgley pitched an idea to create a website that compiles a list of everything that celebrities wear in movies and TV shows. He said the website would allow people to shop online from different designers.

“It’s encouraging to know that others find my idea as stimulating as I do,” he said.

Levering freshman Peter Strojny won third place and $50 for his idea to improve the experience of watching movies. He said he would develop a headset that allows people to look around in the movies they watch.

Strojny has participated in Make a Pitch twice. He said he values the opportunity to practice delivering presentations.

“It’s not about winning,” he said, “it’s about the experience.”

Accounting Professor James Damitio said the judges ranked the contestants based on three factors — the idea itself, the marketing potential and how well the idea satisfies a need.

Robby Roberts, associate director of academic programs at the LEC, was a judge for the competition. She said all of the students had interesting pitches and it was difficult to pick a winner.

“They had some great ideas,” she said. “They were very close.”

The next Make a Pitch competition will be held next semester.

Roberts said the judges chose Cyr as the winner because he had a good idea and presentation.

“It was an avenue to get our students’ work out there,” she said.

Roberts encouraged students who did not win to enter future competitions. She said students can use feedback from the competition to improve their ideas.

“Entrepreneurs might not make it the first time, but they keep trying,” she said. “Eventually they come up with something that could really work for them.”