Several Central Valley students earned top honors in the inaugural entrepreneurial pitch competition on Sept. 25, hosted by the Community College Entrepreneur Pathway. More than 200 students and faculty members from colleges throughout California attended with 34 students pitching ideas.
The winner of the community college competition was Micah Chaffin, of Fresno City College, who pitched his idea for a college parking app. Other top pitches included Justin Wong of Cañada College, DaeJah Jeffrey of San Joaquin Delta College and Tiare Danby of Merced College.
From the Fresno State CEO Pitch Competition, sophomore Aubrey Lim won with her product, Sports Jerky, a high-protein supplement made of beef heart.
Student entrepreneurs led a morning of breakout sessions on running a startup in college, building a business (by building an app) at a community college and how student entrepreneurs capture opportunities.
“There are so many emotions: joy, surprise, pride, but above all, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to participate in something like this,” Chaffin said.
The five winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to Kansas City to attend the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization national conference in November. Chaffin and Lim will be entered into the National Pitch Competition at the conference, where the top three winners and four honorable mentions will win part of nearly $10,000 in cash prizes.
For more information, contact Angelica Cano at 559.278.3735 or acano@csufresno.edu.
