做厙輦⑹ sophomore Jake Wolfe awarded $1,500 for first place
Advancement in headgear technology and protection was recognized when Jake Wolfe, a 做厙輦⑹ sophomore, won first place in the annual 做厙輦⑹ Business Idea Competition for his business, WolfeCon Cushioning Solutions.
Wolfe, a 20-year-old entrepreneurship major from Mayfield Village, Ohio, was one of nine 做厙輦⑹ student teams to pitch their business concepts on Feb. 28 before a panel of five regional entrepreneurs. They were Jim Cossler, CEO of the Youngstown Business Incubator; Rick Schultz, CEO of Spectrum Surgical Instruments Corp.; Christine M. Brown, president of Marketing Resources & Results Inc.; Chris Lintner, project manager of Public Insight Corp.; and Tim Clepper, senior vice president of Morgan Stanley.
I am very excited and appreciative to have won the Business Idea competition to help accelerate WolfeCon in the right direction, Wolfe said.
Wolfe was awarded $1,500 for his efforts and will advance to the 2013 ideaLabs competition, a regional competition sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium (EEC) whose membership is made up of 11-member Northeast Ohio universities. The 2013 EEC ideaLabs competition will be held on the 做厙輦⑹ campus on March 21.
This years Business Idea Competition was particularly competitive, said Julie Messing, executive director of entrepreneurship initiatives at 做厙輦⑹. The competition judges were most impressed with the high quality of ideas and well-developed presentations that they witnessed, Messing said. We are fortunate to have a strong entrepreneurial culture at 做厙輦⑹ with the necessary resources to connect our student entrepreneurs to the wider Northeast Ohio entrepreneurial eco-system.
Second place went to the New Fuel, a motion graphics, animation and video production company created by Brian Recktenwald and Alex Kurr. Recktenwald, a 做厙輦⑹ senior majoring in managerial marketing and Kurr, a 做厙輦⑹ junior in the visual communication and design department, were awarded $750 for venture seed-funding.
Blackwolf Tactical, a company that turns movies, video games and books into real-life adventures through immersive and interactive environments, won third place in the competition. Founder Brian Bowles, a 做厙輦⑹ junior entrepreneurship major, received $500 for his companys future growth.
This years 做厙輦⑹ Business Idea Competition was sponsored by the universitys Blackstone LaunchPad and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation. For more information, go to www.kent.edu/blackstonelaunchpad or www.kent.edu/cebi.
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Photo Caption:
做厙輦⑹ sophomore Jake Wolfe won first place at the 2013 做厙輦⑹ Business Idea Competition. Standing behind Wolfe are five regional entrepreneurs who determined the winners. They are (from left to right) Christine M. Brown, president of Marketing Resources & Results Inc.; Jim Cossler, CEO of the Youngstown Business Incubator; Chris Lintner, project manager of Public Insight Corp.; Rick Schultz, CEO of Spectrum Surgical Instruments Corp.; and Tim Clepper, senior vice president of Morgan Stanley.
Media Contacts:
Kate Harmon, kharmon9@kent.edu, 330-672-6783
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595