2012 NWFSC Student Entrepreneur Fair Winners Announced
5/14/2012
Northwest Florida State College recently held its first Student Entrepreneur Fair, an event intended to encourage entrepreneurship among NWFSC students and perhaps even kick-start new businesses within our community. Award selection was based on the overall quality of the business idea, the display of the business plan, the innovation associated with the business, and the viability of the endeavor. The event was co-sponsored by the college's Business Division and the Costa Leadership Institute at NWFSC.
Awarded first place were Yeidy Mundo of Mary Esther and Rebecca Coon of Navarre for their project "Team SmartWatch" a concept for a GPS and messaging-capable watch to allow parents and school administrators to issue messages from their website directly to the students' watches.
Bryson McLemore of Mary Esther was awarded second place for "Elder Care" – a business idea that would provide care for elderly members of the community in "a safe, caring and enriching environment." Colton Bouchard of Crestview earned third place honors with "perfectgiftpick.com," a creative concept for a web-based, shopping site.
Keith Burns, Chair of the NWFSC Business and Computer Technology Division was impressed with the variety of business ideas presented by the student participants at the Entrepreneur Fair. "All of the projects submitted were quite interesting and sought to fill a need. Many of the students told me that the idea for their project started with the thought that 'this is something I—or someone near to me—would gladly buy if it were on the market,'" Burns noted. "The top three projects each possessed a high level of innovation. We hope all contestants will further hone their proposals into a real business endeavor."