2008 Woodie Awards
Livonia sophomore wins prize for business idea
By: Jackie Smith
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: News
Emily Turbiak's "Hands on Handbags" might someday put women hoping to choose the perfect purse or handbag at ease.
The Livonia sophomore received a $500 cash prize in the Labelle Entrepreneurial Center's "Make a Pitch" competition Thursday in Grawn 100 for her web page-based custom handbag business idea.
"The average person changes (handbags) three times a year, I change it maybe like once a week...if not more," she said. "I think designing them specifically to what I want would be amazing."
Turbiak's idea outlined all the possibilities of building a customer's ideal handbag. From more than 1,000 different fabric options, details could be specified right down to the length of a bag's handle.
"I looked on different web pages to see if this had been done before, and it really wasn't," she said. "It wasn't as elaborate as I had planned out."
The "Make a Pitch" competition has been held twice a semester for the last three or four years, said Jim Damitio, director of the Labelle Entepreneurship Center. This year's 15 contestants were given five minutes to present ideas without the use of props and time to answer questions.
"Our goal is to spread Entepreneurship all over campus," he said.
Damitio said this contest provides an opportunity for students to network and turn their ideas into reality, as many professionals look for good ideas to invest in.
"We encourage them to develop ideas into full blown plans," he said. "Our judges are connected with venture capitalists...We've seen (former contestants) establish businesses."
In addition to the $500 cash prize, second and third place certificates were given to three other undergraduates who made a pitch.
Southfield senior Alex Citron created a plan that delivers a food chosen from a prepared menu to the doors of time-consumed college students in his business idea "College Kids Catering."
Citron said his plan would give students the ability to order daily meals for each coming week, an idea that came to him he previous semester.
"It just came to me," he said. "Right now it's just an idea."
Lindsey White, Williamsburg senior shared third place with Citron for her receipt card pitch, which would give shoppers the ability to keep track of all purchases on one cost-effective card over countless paper receipts.
White said the receipt card idea developed while she was at work, listening to a customer complain about policies requiring receipts in order to return a purchase.
"I was just sitting in Old Navy," she said. "It was like an epiphany."
news@cm-life.com
The Livonia sophomore received a $500 cash prize in the Labelle Entrepreneurial Center's "Make a Pitch" competition Thursday in Grawn 100 for her web page-based custom handbag business idea.
"The average person changes (handbags) three times a year, I change it maybe like once a week...if not more," she said. "I think designing them specifically to what I want would be amazing."
Turbiak's idea outlined all the possibilities of building a customer's ideal handbag. From more than 1,000 different fabric options, details could be specified right down to the length of a bag's handle.
"I looked on different web pages to see if this had been done before, and it really wasn't," she said. "It wasn't as elaborate as I had planned out."
The "Make a Pitch" competition has been held twice a semester for the last three or four years, said Jim Damitio, director of the Labelle Entepreneurship Center. This year's 15 contestants were given five minutes to present ideas without the use of props and time to answer questions.
"Our goal is to spread Entepreneurship all over campus," he said.
Damitio said this contest provides an opportunity for students to network and turn their ideas into reality, as many professionals look for good ideas to invest in.
"We encourage them to develop ideas into full blown plans," he said. "Our judges are connected with venture capitalists...We've seen (former contestants) establish businesses."
In addition to the $500 cash prize, second and third place certificates were given to three other undergraduates who made a pitch.
Southfield senior Alex Citron created a plan that delivers a food chosen from a prepared menu to the doors of time-consumed college students in his business idea "College Kids Catering."
Citron said his plan would give students the ability to order daily meals for each coming week, an idea that came to him he previous semester.
"It just came to me," he said. "Right now it's just an idea."
Lindsey White, Williamsburg senior shared third place with Citron for her receipt card pitch, which would give shoppers the ability to keep track of all purchases on one cost-effective card over countless paper receipts.
White said the receipt card idea developed while she was at work, listening to a customer complain about policies requiring receipts in order to return a purchase.
"I was just sitting in Old Navy," she said. "It was like an epiphany."
news@cm-life.com
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