The George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Cleveland State Community College will host an Entrepreneurship Event on March 25. The event is open to the public and sponsored by the Lynn Jones Foundation, the Cleveland Bradley Business Incubator and the Small Business Development Center.
Five students will compete in the fourth annual Student Pitch Competition at noon. The Lynn Jones Foundation will award $2,000 and $1,000 to the first- and second-place winners, respectively.
The Cleveland Bradley Business Incubator will award $500 to the third-place winner.
Seven new businesses will compete in the third annual Community Pitch Competition at 6 p.m. The Lynn Jones Foundation will award $7,500 to the first-place winner, $4,000 to second-place and $1,500 to third-place.
Community Pitch finalists are:
• Apex Pro Home Repair, LLC – Ryan Albright;
• Liberty Acres Dog Lodge – Liana Magda;
• Ocoee River Distilling – Sarah Berry;
• Ruddle’s Bread and Book – Janson and Kaylee Brown;
• Take Root Studio, LLC – Bryson Killian;
• The Red Barn Pet Resort, LLC – Laura Ashley Fairbanks; and
• Trailhead Counseling and Consulting, PLLC – Kristi Rice.
Judges for the Community Pitch Competition are Dr. Corey Campbell, Cleveland State vice president for Academic Affairs; Jim Fairweather, owner of Fairweather Financial in Monroe County; and Margaret Schenck, founder of United Knitting in Cleveland and an advisory board member of the George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Along with the pitch competitions, the college will celebrate the grand opening of the George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at 3 p.m. the same day. With a donation from the George R. Johnson Family Foundation, the new center includes a private workspace, a podcast booth and a conference area for collaboration or training.
Sandra Godsey, Cleveland State dean of Business and Health Professions, said, “We are excited to provide this opportunity to the community, as well as the faculty, staff and students of Cleveland State. We want to be a resource for the small businesses of our five-county service area which is the goal of the George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.”
The pitch competitions and grand opening are free and open to the public. For more information, visit mycs.cc/entr, call 423-478-6224 or email entrepreneurship@clevelandstatecc.edu.