Sumter County High School students pitched business models and competed for cash at the eighth annual Sumter’s Future Entrepreneurs Competition.
The Shark Tank style competition gathered The Villages Charter High School, South Sumter High School and Wildwood Middle High School students at the Warfield Auditorium in Wildwood on Feb. 23.
The top two finalists from each school beat out nearly 80 students last September when their business plans and applications were submitted to begin the first round of judging. Once they were picked, finalists were invited to pitch their ideas at a live event for cash rewards. They were also mentored by volunteers from Mid-Florida SCORE in preparation.
During the final round of judging, students made their pitches demonstrating their entrepreneurial potential. They were judged for creativity, innovation, market potential, competitive landscape, product clarity and operational sustainability.
Ensuring those qualities were judges Brenda Chrisman of CareerSource Central Florida, Randy “RM” Thompson of AgeWave Solutions, Inc., and Suzzette Herman of Citizen’s First Bank. Each judge was impressed with the finalists as they presented their projects.
The competition finished with a presentation of the long-awaited presentation of the awards. Each school earned a first place $1,000 cash prize and a second place $500 cash prize. The third through fifth place finalists of the online competition from each school displayed posters of their business models and received $200.
First place finalists include: Peyton Ressler of The Villages Charter School for What’s Up In A Cup?, Emily Burkes of South Sumter High School for The Old Heritage Company, and teammates Kaytlin Kenny and Lyvia Oliveira of Wildwood Middle High School for Wallets for Women.
Second place finalists include: Isaac Goff of The Villages Charter School for Exertec, Samiul Kader of South Sumter High School for Recyclizer, and teammates Vanessa Castillo and Delvin Miller of Wildwood Middle High School for D & V.
Display finalists include: teammates Mallorie Simpson and Gracin Pulley, Jonah Terry and Blake Wise of The Villages Charter School, teammates Cayle Pitts and Tara Morrison, teammates Savannah Stephens and Sadie Van Hooijdonk, and Jozlin Bell of South Sumter High School, and Audrey Alaniz and Emily Clayton of Wildwood Middle High School.
At the end of the competition, Sumter School Superintendent Rick Shirley was very impressed by the students and their presentations. He congratulated each participant and stated they were all winners at some level.
“This year’s entrepreneurial contest demonstrated the wide variety of interests our students have, and the wealth of creative business opportunities available if you have the desire, organizational skills, work ethic and good imagination,” said Shirley.
