Gordon Ford College of Business News

The WKU Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation awarded eight student teams $1,000 in the Spring 2016 Topper Tank Elevator Pitch Competition April 19.

The Topper Tank Elevator Pitch Competition is similar to the ABC show “Shark Tank,” which allows students to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges within a 90-second time frame.

This semester 20 student teams competed in two different tracks, presenting their innovative ideas and inventions to six judges.

The winning student teams from both tracks were:

1^st Place ($200) Tara Keith & Brennan Elsas (Gone Nuts); Muamer Razic (Level Lacrosse)

2^nd Place ($150) Brianna Anderson (MakeOurSceneHeard.com); Justin Nolan (Helpt App)

3^rd Place ($100) Dominic Nunez & Hanna Riley (XpressBG); David Graehler (The Evolving Weight Bench)

Honorable Mention ($50) Michael Schilling (Draft Imaging); Bradley Miller (Barb Hook Series)

“Topper Tank is fun way for entrepreneurial students at WKU to end the semester, as well as a great opportunity for them to pitch their ideas to experienced judges," said Dr. Dawn Bolton, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

On the judges table were: Dr. Paula Potter, WKU Management Department Chair; Mr. Miller Slaughter, Small Business Development Center Director; Mr. Jim Martens, owner of J-Mar Properties of Bowling Green, KY, which specializes in commercial real estate; Dr. Ray Blakenship, Information Systems Department Chair; Mr. Jeff Hook, Director of Kentucky Innovation Network, Center for Research & Development, and the WKU Small Business Accelerator; and Mr. Mike Cowles, an engineer and project manager around the world with Chevron.

Winning teams are encouraged to continue advancing their ideas through various university and community resources.