RISE & North Point ESC Host Young Entrepreneurs for Pitch Challenge
Area High School Students Compete for Cash Prize in Elevator Pitch Competition
Huron, OH ––– On Thursday, March 6th, 19 high school students participated in the annual Youth Pitch Challenge hosted by the Regional Incubator for Sustainability & Entrepreneurship (RISE) and North Point Educational Service Center (ESC). The students range from 9th-12th grade and come from schools across Huron and Erie counties – Huron, Margaretta, Monroeville, Sandusky, Edison and St. Mary Central Catholic. The participating students had been working for weeks to develop a business elevator pitch to share with a panel of judges and a community audience on event day.
The Regional Incubator for Sustainability & Entrepreneurship is an entrepreneur support program of Greater Sandusky Partnership, Huron County Growth Partnership and BGSU Firelands. One objective of the program is to foster entrepreneurial thinking in our region’s young people.
“North Point ESC is ecstatic to be a partner again this year on the Pitch Challenge” added Andrea Smith, Superintendent at North Point Educational Service Center. “As in the past, I was blown away by the entire experience. I feel confident our future is bright in the region based on the creativity and initiative I saw demonstrated today by the participating students.”
Co-host for the event, North Point Educational Service Center, is a regional educational services provider that supports and assists 27 school systems and over 38,000 students in north central Ohio. North Point presents many programs for area schools including the Ohio four star-rated Business Advisory Council which engages the business and education communities to support educational and business needs.
To prepare for the Pitch Challenge event, RISE supplied participating schools with a pitch-building curriculum from the Young Entrepreneur Institute along with some additional activities for the classroom. From there, educators could add or remove any activities to best fit their student’s needs.
There were three student finalists, each receiving $200 as competition winners. Taking first place was Ashtyn Spooner, 10th grader at Huron High School with her pitch, “Study Buddies App”. Study Buddies is a studying app set up as a social media platform to help engage students. The second-place winner was Ishan Chopra from Sandusky High School with his pitch, “ChoPrints” – a real business where he sells his 3D printed items. The audience choice winner was Dallas Harris, another Sandusky High School student, who pitched his biodegradable lunch trays – “Green Path Technologies”.
Winners were chosen by a panel of judges made up of Heather Gilchrist, Assistant Vice President of Marketing at VacationLand Federal Credit Union; Micah Roberts, owner of Erie & Anchor; Ben Simon, Director of Marketing & Sales at Shores & Islands Ohio; and Nicole Withrow, owner of Mini Main Street.
View the video coverage of the event, provided by BCSN Erie here!
The 2025 event was supported by several partners including North Point Educational Service Center, BGSU Firelands, Huron County Growth Partnership and Greater Sandusky Partnership. If you’re interested in attending a future RISE event, consider registering for the April 11th Small Business Symposium at BGSU Firelands.
About the Regional Incubator for Sustainability & Entrepreneurship (RISE)
Since 2011, the RISE program has been serving area entrepreneurs by providing technical assistance through one-on-one advising and resource connection. The objective RISE is to grow jobs and spearhead economic development by linking entrepreneurs and small business owners with experts in business startup, development and acceleration. RISE is a partnership between Huron County Growth Partnership, Greater Sandusky Partnership and BGSU Firelands.