By Maureen Zambito
Dr. Carrie White and Liz Elam
There was standing room only for the third Pitch Contest, sponsored by the West Liberty University (WLU) Gary E. West College of Business and its Center for Entrepreneurship. The business start-up program took place March 26, 2014 at WLU’s downtown incubator, the Intellectual Capitol.
Speaker Liz Elam began the night of new business thinking with her presentation on coworking, a concept that she’s been very successful with in Austin, TX; coworking is simply the idea of working in a shared space and possibly combining ideas, even for independent businesses and workers. She shared thoughts and tips on how Wheeling can improve use of its empty buildings by giving entrepreneurs an ideal place to create and connect.
“I found the crowd very receptive to learning about coworking—an industry that has grown 200 percent year after year for eight years with no end in sight. I think Wheeling could benefit from fostering a local coworking scene,” says Elam. “Coworking spaces sign leases, create jobs and are hubs of innovation.”
Elam has become a prominent voice in the movement, hosting the annual Global Coworking Unconference Conference (GCUC) for three years running. After listening to the speaker and asking questions, the pitch contest program turned to the entrepreneur competition.
“This was our third contest and we were thrilled to have eight pitchers this time with a variety of ideas. The winner received $5,000 to start their own project,” said Dr. Carrie White, director of WLU’s Center for Entrepreneurship.
Each entrepreneur had just five minutes to promote their idea then five minutes for questions from the judges. After all presentations were made, the judges delivered their decision on the winning pitch. Audience members also were given a vote and these votes were added to the judges’ tally to come up with the final winner.
The winning pitcher was Mason Dixon BBQ Co., founded by Northern Panhandle resident Patrick Fisher. A second-time competitor in
Patrick Fisher, Mason Dixon BBQ Co.
the WLU pitch contests, he was thrilled. He is the owner of a successful catering and food stand business in Moundsville, WV, which also is active on Facebook.
“It’s very exciting. I just came in thinking if I win, great; if I don’t, great. Either way it’s the perfect way to get your idea out there,” Fisher commented after winning the competition.
He plans to put the award money toward production of his barbecue sauce, the original “Sweet with a Little Heat.” He also will use it to purchase equipment for catering services.
Other entrepreneurs pitching their ideas included: Jeremy Larance, Karissa Duke, Tannon Mossor, Tyler McGary and Taylor Snare, Jonathan and Perry Napier, Chad Hill and Devin Harrison and Kevin Kalany. Recycling, gaming and beer brewing were some of the other products that these business people promoted.
Judges for the event included Leslie P. DeFelice, chair of the West Liberty University Foundation; Glenn F. Elliott Jr., an independent contractor attorney with Toriseva Law in Wheeling; Healy Baumgardner-Nardone, a strategic communications advisor and public affairs executive and Christian E. Turak, a lead associate in the oil and gas litigation group with the law offices of Gold, Khourey and Turak.
A grant from the United States Department of Agriculture provides significant support to the West Liberty University Center for Entrepreneurship.
In Fiscal Year 2013, USDA Rural Development invested $410 million in rural communities across West Virginia through its more than 40 programs to support housing, infrastructure, business and community facilities, according to USDA Rural Development West Virginia State Director Bobby Lewis.
“We are pleased to be able to support such an important program at West Liberty University. Entrepreneurship is an integral component of economic development in West Virginia,” Lewis stated.
He went on to add, “Our future growth is dependent on fostering entrepreneurship and providing tools to help individuals with good ideas cultivate them into successful entrepreneurial ventures that ultimately provide for a better quality of life.”
Other sponsors for the pitch contest include the Regional Economic Development Partnership, Wheeling, WV and Vision Shared, Huntington, WV.
Dr. White, who began managing the WLU entrepreneurship program in January 2012, believes that the pitch contest is now achieving its goal.
“Our attendance has grown significantly as the general interest has grown. This points to the fact that our pitch contests have developed a steady fan base and following. I believe that the excitement shown by both the participants, the audience and the business community, proves that things are changing in our region and small business is fighting hard to grow and prosper,” she says.
The Historic First State Capitol Building in Wheeling
With a vision of developing job creators instead of job seekers, the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Gary E. West College of Business has developed a program designed to provide students across educational disciplines the practical classroom and experiential-based entrepreneurship instruction necessary to enable them to pursue a career as an entrepreneur or to become a creative “intrapreneur” within a larger business.
“We encourage creative business thinking and offer a complete curriculum to support students in all disciplines who want to add the entrepreneurship minor to their studies,” says White.
Located at 1413 Eoff Street, in the historic First State Capitol Building, the business incubator known as the Intellectual Capitol is conveniently located near the Wheeling City Building, Ohio County offices and other downtown businesses. It opened in the fall of 2013 and is used by West Liberty University’s College of Business to foster new businesses in many ways.
Intellectual Capitol is a partnership between West Liberty University and the Wheeling Academy of Law and Science and the WALS Foundation, founded by Attorney Patrick Cassidy, along with his wife, educator Mary Ellen Cassidy.
For more information please contact White at (304) 336-8159 or at cwhite@westliberty.edu.
About the Author
Maureen Zambito is the director of Media Relations at West Liberty University. Also a freelance writer and photographer, she is a 2001 graduate of Leadership Wheeling and a member of the Public Relations Society of America. She resides in Wheeling, WV.
