Celebrating 15 years of amazing elevator pitches!
About the Elevator Pitch Competition (EPC)
Sponsored by:
The Grove City College Elevator Pitch Competition, established in 2007, affords all students the opportunity to pitch their new venture ideas to a panel of judges, offering cash prizes in two categories – Commercial Enterprise and Social Enterprise. The competition is open to students from all majors. For team ventures, all members must be present, and one student will deliver the pitch. If registering as a team, only one student from the team should complete the official “GCC Elevator Pitch Application Form,” but each teammate and his/her contact information should be listed. It is free to enter the competition.
The “elevator” pitch is a frequently used term, which literally means “tell me about your new venture within the time it would take to ride up an elevator.” The goal of the Elevator Pitch Competition is to teach students to communicate effectively and allow their charisma and positive characteristics to shine through in just a short pitch. The Elevator Pitch Competition demonstrates the networking and presentation skills essential to any entrepreneur or business professional. Please note that ideas may be at any stage of development from creation of concepts or ideas to an established venture.
Who Should Participate?
- The Grove City College Elevator Pitch Competition is currently open only to Grove City College students.
- GCC students interested in enhancing their presentation skills
- GCC students who want to explore the idea of starting a new venture
- GCC students planning to possibly prepare/vet your idea for VentureLab and/or the Wolverine Venture Battle
Why Participate?
- This is your chance to showcase your talents and passion for changing the world through entrepreneurship + innovation.
- It’s an opportunity to present your commercial or social idea in a positive atmosphere.
- Why not receive recognition for the merits of the presentation of your idea with the possibility of cash awards?
How did the 2021 Elevator Pitch Competition go down?
Timeline 2021
September 17: Registration Closes
October 1: Video Submission Deadline
October 22: Finalists Announced
November 10: Final Round
Commercial Enterprise Prizes:
1st Place-$500
2nd Place-$400
3rd Place-$300
4th Place-$200
5th Place-$100
Social Enterprise Prizes:
1st Place-$500
2nd Place-$400
3rd Place-$300
BONUS: FAN FAVORITE PRIZE–$100
(audience votes)
Grove City Foundation Social Impact Prize–$250*
*awarded to one social enterprise team
2021 FINALISTS
COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE:
Safe n’ Tasty | Caroline Dawson ’25 Entrepreneurship
Allergy Stick | Drake Muir ’25 Business Economics
Keep Yo Capo | Jenna Knepper ’25 Marketing
Greener Packaging | Madalyn Fry ’23 Biology
Epi-let | Mark Wilhelm ’23 Entrepreneurship
Divine Creation | Mia White ’25 Design and Innovation
Speed Swipe | Micah Fazekas ’25 Marketing
H2Only | Shelton Brower ’24 Marketing
ShowerRite | Sierra Nagy ’23 Business Management
Fully Adjustable Window Screen | Victor Schultz ’25 Design and Innovation
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE:
Broken Light | Emma Whiteford ’24 English
Vibe | Gus Minotto ’23 Biblical and Religious Studies
Code Purpose | Logan Richardson ’24 Computer Science
Kids Too | Molly McCommons ’25 Undecided
Culinary Corrections Co | Oliver Schwarz ’25 Entrepreneurship
Mosquitocide | Peter Judge ’25 Computer Science
ROUND 1
Registration
To register, students are required to complete the online form by clicking on the button below. Once registered, students should starting working to create and record their elevator pitch as ALL REGISTRANTS WILL ADVANCE TO ROUND 2!
Information Required:
- Name of your venture
- Is it social or commercial?
- Individual/Team Member(s) Information
- Short idea description (1-2 sentences)
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED!
ROUND 2
Video Submission
In a video recording that is no longer than two minutes, deliver your pitch to the Elevator Pitch Review Panel. The EPC Review Panel will choose the TOP SCORING TEAMS to compete in ROUND 3 (FINALS) based on the judging rubrics (above).
Feedback will be provided to the finalists in order to guide them as to how they should proceed to strengthen their pitch in the final round.
Information to consider and include in your pitch:
• What is the problem? Tell a story! Paint a picture!
• What is your solution?
• What is your organization’s name, and who are you?
• Why you?
• What is it like/similar to?
• How is it different from the competition?
• How are you going to make money? (Social = become sustainable)
• How can you expand in the future?
The submission deadline has passed!
ROUND 3—FINALS
Final Presentations; Wednesday, November 10
Join us as the Finalists pitch their Commercial or Social Enterprise idea in a live final presentation. Audience members can vote for the FAN FAVORITE! EVERYONE is invited to attend.
Check out competitions from years past!
See who won, watch the pitches, and get the intel you need to win this year!
2021 Reviewers
Many thanks to all of the Reviewers who watched and evaluated the student pitches in Round 2!
Toby Basalla
Tiffany Bicek
Cliff Blendermann
Chris Botting
John Brier
Jonathan Brutt
Justin Bushko
Tim Colussy
Leslie Craven
Dan Creston
Jeff Curran
Brad Dearborn
Kris Deemer
Lisa DiFalco
Jay DiNucci
Rachel Ellison
Ruth Entwistle
Sondra Fisher
Kim Ford
Collin Foster
RJ Fryan
Chuck Gaetano
Dennis Gilfoyle
Jennifer Gilliland
Curt Given
Brian Gongaware
Glenn Grossman
John Holt
Jordan Horst
William Howell
Edward Huttenhower
Robert Keller
Andrew Kmiec
Karolina Lagerquist
Beth Lepore
Marjorie Loresch
Evan Lowe
Bill Lucas
Kim Marks
Beth Marraccini
Dean Marraccini
Wendy Marshall
Lauren Marts
Drew McCandless
Glenn McDonald
Scott McDowell
Winifred McGee
Alan Mesches
Ronald Miller
Brian Montgomery
Scott Moran
Jeff Moxie
Curt Newill
Victoria O’Brien
Elisabeth O’Brien
Susan Parrett
Robin Parsons
Mark Pentz
Levi Roberts
Steven Roman
Kelly Shields
Joshua Shull
Neil Skoriak
Bill Smith
Zachary Smith
Steve Solman
Heather Starcher
Cameron Suorsa
Allyson Sveda
Ben Tobias
Brenda Vinton
Joshua Weatherstone
Steve Wickman
James Will
Lesley Winfield
2021 Judges
SOCIAL + COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE JUDGES
Colleen Albright
Chief Operating Officer
Right Management –
Great Lakes Region
John Henne ’89
President & Owner
Henne Jewelers
Dane Mossgrove ’16
Supervisor
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Dorene Powell
Counseling and Education Professional
Vice President, The Grove City Foundation
Board Member, The Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio