| Contact |
Dustin Luca
|
|---|
SALEM, MASS. – Ready… set… pitch.
Returning for its fifth year, the Viking Business Pitch Competition is a weeks-long contest in Salem State University’s AACSB accredited Bertolon School of Business that sees teams of students and individuals from across campus build businesses from an initial concept to a final pitch. Cash prizes totaling $10,000 await the finalists, selected by a panel of judges from the greater North Shore business community.
“This competition serves as an innovative opportunity to move our students toward their post-commencement entrepreneurial journeys,” said Jian “James” Gu, a professor and faculty fellow for the Center of Entrepreneurship who helps lead the competition. “From preparation to the final presentations, we have business leaders with tremendous entrepreneurial experience coaching our student teams, giving them the insight into what it takes to actually start a business.”
From beginning to end, the Business Pitch Competition inspires students from all university majors to be change-makers by introducing them to business leaders and alumni who have both been there and succeeded. The process starts with panelist discussions in the fall, where business leaders share their experiences with students.
“By talking about their businesses, they show our students one thing: ‘yes, you can do that,’” Gu said. “Then, in the following semester with the Pitch Competition, our students formalize their ideas and present them on a springboard to possibly launch their business in the future, after they graduate.”
The competition further cements the Bertolon School of Business as a pillar supporting the regional business community, as graduates of the school – and contestants in the Viking Business Pitch Competition – move to and through commencement.
“Some of them will go on to become entrepreneurs and contribute to the economic development of the region – or they’ll make their own employer that much more successful,” said Raminder Luther, dean of the AACSB-accredited Bertolon School of Business. “We have the Small Business Development Center office in the same building as the School of Business, and the Enterprise Center, all of which closely collaborate with our faculty fellows in the Center for Entrepreneurship.”
The Viking Business Pitch Competition provides an added opportunity for participants to build confidence and connect with business leaders and sponsors.
“We hold this to provide experiential learning opportunities, so students become more confident and entrepreneurial in their thinking,” Luther said. “In addition to the cash awards, the students truly value the feedback they receive from the judges and the confidence they gain.”
Among the judges are Salem State University Trustee Dino Di Palma, who has served on the panel since the beginning of the competition. He and his wife Annalisa Di Palma, chair of the Salem State University Alumni Association and Foundation, Inc., have been driven to bring entrepreneurially minded opportunities like the Viking Business Pitch Competition to Salem State. The two also serve on the Meet the Moment® Campaign Steering Committee.
“By making entrepreneurship a key part of what Salem State offers, we can create amazing new opportunities for all our students,” Di Palma said.
The five-time judge further noted that this year, four of the competition’s eight finalist teams don’t contain any students who are business majors.
“Making entrepreneurship core to what we do at Salem State serves not only our business school students, but all students campus-wide,” Di Palma said. “This competition brings together a range of great ideas, often from different departments – from psychology to biology, and nursing to business. We’ve watched as the competition has improved more and more each year, and it has been exciting to watch the contest grow in its five years.”
Di Palma is joined on the three-judge panel by Board of Trustees Chair Samanda Morales ‘98 and David Eidle, senior vice president at Rockland Trust.
As the contest has grown, so too have the prizes. The winning team takes home $5,000 to launch their venture, while the second and third place finishers earn $2,500 and $1,500 respectively. The remaining five finalists receive $250.
Applications from registered teams were due Feb. 28, and the first round of presentations from 38 initial teams took place from Monday, March 3 to Friday, March 7. Coming out of that, eight teams were selected as finalists to compete in the final event on Thursday, April 3 at 5 pm.
Hosted by the Center of Entrepreneurship at the Bertolon School of Business, the final Business Pitch event will be held in the recital hall of the academic building on Harrington Campus, 71 Loring Ave., Salem. The event is generously supported by presenting sponsor Triumvirate Environmental and feature sponsor Rockland Trust.
Please visit the Viking Business Pitch Competition page for more information.