Huntington, Ind. — On Oct. 19, Huntington University hosted the fourth annual Youth Entrepreneur Symposium. Sophomores, juniors and seniors from Huntington North High School participated in the day-long event.
Students were divided into 12 groups and experienced firsthand how to invent a new application for Facebook, iPod, iPhone or Android. Ideas from the sessions included iLocate, Auto Fixer and Coup-it.
After creating their product concept, the students were challenged to expand their products into a business concept. Each group determined what the product was, how it was different from other products, how the product would make money, who the customers were, how customers would use the product, and finally, where and how the product would be sold. The top five groups presented their products to the judges with their peers as the audience.
The winning business concept was Coup-it which sends coupons to your mobile phone. The team members were Cassandra Abbott, Tyke Clore, Gretchen PeGan and Matthew Whitacre.
The second place business concept was called Auto Fixer. Their concept was detecting what was wrong with your vehicle and then giving you the location of the closest repair shop.
Their team consisted Aaron Snyder, Crystal Waters, Kyle Godfroy and Quinton Flora.
The third place team’s concept was iLocate. It was a software program which combined social networking with geo-mapping where friends would rate places and the mapping system would tell you where they are. Team members included Phillip Truitt, Connor Brown, John Lofgren and Austin Shipley.
Honorable Mention was given to two additional teams. iControl’s business concept was to create a software package that could manage appliances throughout your home when you were gone. Team members were Tyler Blocker, Heaston Schwob, Andrew Sizemore and Michael Ness. Budget Extraordinaire was also given honorable mention. Team members were Brittany Arquette, Tory Couch, Allison Rittenhouse and Ethan Saunders. Budget Extraordinaire allowed you to manage your finances in the palm of your hand.
The “Most Creative Business Concept” award was given to Halo Gaming. Halo Gaming took popular board games such as Candy Land and Battleship and turned them in to holographic games. Team members were Brandon Wagers, Alex Sereno, Levi Lawson, Rachel Hareld and Emily Harrell.
Steve Franks of the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center was the facilitator for the day.
Judges were:
Wil Kline, business banker, PNC Bank
Darlene Stanley, president, Johnson Junction
Dave McEowen, associate professor of business, Huntington University
Mark Wickersham, executive director, Huntington County Economic Development
Students from the Huntington University business department served as assistants for the day. They include:
Mark Wiley, Huntington, Ind.
Matt Souers, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Christen Melvin, Columbia City, Ind.
Katrina Helmer, Noblesville, Ind.
Rob Hahn, Whitehouse, Ohio