The UTC College of Business Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship and the UTC E-Club hosted the 2018 Southeast Entrepreneurship Conference (SEEC) on the UTC campus February 16 and 17.
Students from UTC and from colleges and universities around the country participated in the two-day event. Students heard from the founders of successful start-up companies, angel investors, attorneys, and digital marketers. Many students also participated in a pitch contest sponsored by LAUNCH TN.
SEEC is a student-focused, regional entrepreneurship conference. UTC was thrilled to host the conference for the second year in a row in Chattanooga with support provided by the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization.
The conference was attended not only by students and faculty advisors from Tennessee, but also Mississippi, North Carolina, and Florida.
This year’s conference also included a panel discussion, Empowered Entrepreneurs: Inspiration for the Next Generation, with Black entrepreneurs from a variety of industries. Panelists discussed what inspires them, the challenges they’ve faced and their success stories.
“The 2018 Southeast Entrepreneurship Conference was a tremendous success! Over 150 participants gathered at UTC to celebrate entrepreneurship. In addition to UTC students, we had representatives from eight other colleges and universities across the southeast in attendance. A huge thank you to all of the support from the Chattanooga entrepreneurship community. Thanks to your expertise and assistance, we were able to put on an amazing conference for these college entrepreneurs,” said Dr. Bev Brockman, Head of the Dept. of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at UTC.
A number of students participated in the LAUNCH TN Pitch Competition and presented their new venture ideas in 90 seconds. Contestants were coached and critiqued by local entrepreneurship professionals. The winners of the 2018 LAUNCH TN Pitch Competition are as follows:
1st Place: Kapped – Hannah & Drew Kraebel – Lipscomb University. Kapped is a product based start-up launching a flexible silicon lid that conforms to the opening of most generic shaped mugs. The lid fits snugly over your mug’s top, creating a water tight seal. This enables the user to travel with their favorite mug free of spills, making the comfort of home convenient.
2nd Place: Stink Locker – Zac Harshbarger – Stetson University. Stink Locker is a box used to contain and expunge the smell of athletic footwear. This serves a purpose that has yet to be adequately fulfilled by previous market products.
3rd Place: Glaance – Calvin Waddy – Mississippi State University. The Glaance application provides event planners a one-stop-shop for everything that goes into putting on the perfect event. The event-planning platform enables people to create, promote and host their own events using the all-encompassing software.
Click here to view photos from the conference!
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