25 April 2023
MANHATTAN (KSNT) – The K-State College of Business Administration awarded $75,000 to entrepreneurial students from 77 high schools and five community college teams across the state.
Sponsored by the Kansas Masonic Foundation, organized by K-State’s Center for the Advancement of Entrepreneurship and supported by Network Kansas, the 10th annual Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge gave students experience in making business proposals.
“I was blown away by the maturity and poise of all of the students, especially at the high school level, and I was particularly impressed with the innovative ideas on display,” President of the Kansas Masonic Foundation Robert Nelson said. “We see this event as an opportunity for the Kansas Masons to extend our charitable mission to help young people build businesses that are going to help the state’s economy and be beneficial to all Kansans and Kansas communities.”
The Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge put students in three events, a mock boardroom session, a trade show and a trading card game, according to K-State.
In the mock boardroom, each team was judged on their executive summaries and judges were given 10 minutes to ask questions about the student businesses, according to K-State. In the tradeshow event, students showed their products and services to guests at the competition and then guests voted for their favorites.
“This event is an opportunity to showcase the tremendous entrepreneurial talent we have in the state of Kansas,” Director of the Center for the Advancement of Entrepreneurship Chad Jackson said. “The real-world experience of pitching a business in front of the type of business experts we have on our panel is invaluable to these students and provides real-world feedback and support to launch companies within our state.”
The following community college students won $1,500:
• Douglas Tanyanyiwa and Ryan Mangunda, Cloud County Community College.
• Paulia Ard, Allen County Community College.
• Lungelo Masisi, Allen County Community College.
• Bernice Erasmus, Allen County Community College.
The following community college student won the top prize of $3,000:
• Jacie Roth, Barton County Community College.
The following high school students won $1,700:
• Daniel Eilert, Beloit.
• Kiley Stevenson, Ellinwood.
• Cruz Donley, Owen Donley and Thaddeus Donley, Kanopolis.
• Kenzie Skrdlant, Norton.
• Claire Mick, Osborne.
The following high school students won the $3,000 top prize:
• Avery Obermueller, Lincoln.
• Ansley Moellering and Madelyn Schiltz, Oakley.
• Ruby Gomel-Osthoff, Smith Center.
• Ian Dunn and Weston Peterson, St. John.
• Keeli Knobbee Sylvan Grove.