ABERDEEN, S.D. – Six finalists will compete for cash prizes as they pitch their business ideas Shark Tank-style at Northern State University’s annual Idea Pitch competition on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. in the Jewett Regional Science Center lobby.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will showcase innovative ideas from Northern students and provide an opportunity for the audience to help decide the winners of three People’s Choice awards.
The finalists and their ideas are:
- Abiah George
- Noah Behrends
- Blake Stoks
- Kayleen Hermans
- Sam Tremelling
- John Schwab
Each finalist will have five minutes to present their pitch to a panel of four judges, followed by four minutes of Q&A. The judging panel, or “sharks,” includes Kelly Weaver of the Small Business Development Center, Olaf Hanson of Dacotah Bank, Tim Hanigan of Aberdeen Development Corporation, and Travis Schaunaman, mayor of Aberdeen.
Sponsored by the Aberdeen Development Corp., the competition offers $1,000 in total prize money, with $500 awarded to the first-place winner, $250 to the second-place winner, and $100 to the third-place winner.
This year’s guest speaker is Grace Kramer, founder of eqUTI, who will share insights from her entrepreneurial journey. Kramer previously placed second in South Dakota’s Governor’s Giant Vision Competition.
“The NSU Idea Pitch Competition encourages students to embrace creativity and engage in entrepreneurial thinking,” said Bea Smith, director of the Northern Innovation and Startup Center. “This campus-wide event is a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship. We are especially excited to welcome NSU alum Grace Kramer as this year’s guest speaker. Grace developed her product, eqUTI, while she was a student, earning first place in the 2022 NSU Idea Pitch Competition and second place in the 2023 Governor’s Giant Vision Competition. Now patent-pending, her product was created right here in the Jewett Regional Science Education Center.”
The NSU Business Pitch Competition, which began nearly a decade ago, promotes entrepreneurial thinking across campus, encouraging students from all majors to participate.