Follett LLC and Victaulic supported Lehigh Valley Tech (LVTech) and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the first-ever Collegiate Business Pitch Summit competition held on April 27.
During the event, students had the opportunity to showcase their ideas and strategic business plans to entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders and other students from the greater Lehigh Valley community. Business plan competitions are a key part of entrepreneurship education. They provide students with opportunities to develop and practice pitches. This year’s judges included Michael Rice, Vice President of Marketing at Follett, Peter Lega, Director of Emerging Technology at Merck and Company, and Eric Luftig, Vice President at Victaulic.
“Entrepreneurship is alive and well in the Lehigh Valley,” says Eric Luftig, Victaulic Vice President. “We are all proud to support the schools and students at this inaugural event as it aligns well with our collective companies—turning new ideas into viable business and customer solutions.”
Encouraging college students to apply technology knowledge and business skills to solve complex open-ended problems in a real-world context is the goal of LVTech’s intercollegiate entrepreneurial competition. “We truly appreciate the judges and sponsors, without whose support we wouldn’t be able to present the Lehigh Valley Collegiate Business Pitch Summit,” says Wayne Barz, Manager of Entrepreneurial Services of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, which was the venue sponsor of the event. “The event encourages entrepreneurship and good-natured competition among the students.”
Six colleges competed in a pitch-off at the inaugural Lehigh Valley Collegiate Business Pitch Summit at Ben Franklin TechVentures on April 27. Teams from Lafayette College, Lehigh Carbon Community College, Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College, Penn State Lehigh Valley, and Alvernia University, participated in this Lehigh Valley event.
