Tippecanoe Valley High School senior Devin Boggs, right, won the Fulton Economic Development Corp.’s First Pitch competition Thursday, March 7, at the Geneva Center outside Rochester. She won for her pitch of fav&save, a grocery shopping price comparison app. Shown with her is Valley business teacher, Aaron Engbrecht.

Text and Photos
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

ROCHESTER — Caston, Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley high school students experienced pitching business ideas Thursday, March 7.

Fulton Economic Development Corp.’s fifth First Pitch competition was held then at the Geneva Center outside Rochester.

Judges T.J. Garner with Fulton County REMC, Kendra Chudzynski with The Smith Sawyer Smith Agency and Chris Hoffman with Machined Castings Specialties heard six pitches, with two apiece from each of the three schools.

Kids had seven minutes to present before Garner, Chudzynski and Hoffman.

The three judges ultimately picked Valley senior, Devin Boggs, as the winner and awarded her $500. Her pitch was for fav&save, a grocery shopping price comparison app, available either free with ads or via a subscription.

“I just feel excited,” said Boggs of her win, noting it was “unexpected” to her.

She said she plans to eventually own a business after studying accounting and business management in college.

The judges shared with media outlets why they named Boggs the winner.

“She really had a product that was ready for the market,” said Garner. “She did a great job from everything from beginning to end, the marketing, everything. She did a fantastic job.”

“You could tell it was very well-thought out, and she analyzed all the competitors,” said Hoffman.

Coming in second was the Top Strength Industries team of Caston students, Nick Townsend and Eric Reidenbach.

The boys won $400 for their pitch of The Autospotter, a mechanism to spot for people weight lifting alone.

Garner said “the need for” the product stood out to him.

“I guess I didn’t realize how much of a need there was for it, but they did a great job presenting and answering the questions,” he said.

“That was one thing we talked about, that it’s an industry where there’s nothing out there,” said Hoffman.

Coming in third and winning $300 was the pitch for Lace Lock, a tool to keep shoelaces tied, done by Valley students, Blain Sheetz, Malachi Wolf and Cody Small.

In fourth was the team of Rochester students, Alex Deming, Milan Helm and Payton Moore. They won $100 for their pitch for Carnivore Steak Knives.

Placing fifth and getting $100 was the the team of Rochester students, Grant Clark, Declan Gard, Wade Bowers, Aiden Witten and Carson Paulik. Paulik filled in for classmate Trinity Collings.

The students pitched Zebbie’s Diner, a restaurant serving burgers, fries, pizza and other similar fare, which would stay open late.

The Mini Snack Squares team of Caston students, Savana Meeks, Bailey Byers and Christian Gilchrist, came in sixth and got $100 for their pitch of a tool to make healthy snacks.

Before judging was complete, the business teachers from the schools shared what they hoped kids learned from participating in First Pitch.

“I hope they learned what it takes to actually own and operate and start a business,” said Rochester business teacher, Brenda Gaerte. “A lot of blood, sweat and tears go into actually owning and operating a business … I just hope they gained an understanding of what it actually takes to be a business owner, to be a business startup and then one day to grow the business.”

“I hope they get a taste of what it would be like to be an entrepreneur and to actually start a business because they actually have you develop a business plan and part of that was a profit and loss statement,” said Caston business teacher, Amy Myers.

“I know that they’re gaining important presentation skills, like that’s huge, getting comfortable with talking in front of audiences,” said Valley business teacher Aaron Engbrecht. “I know that they’re going through the process of learning what it takes to create a business, whether they know all the ins and outs … I think it’s cool that they can start at the beginning and see through a long process.”