Joe Hayes (right) won the BraveHawk Entrepreneur Challenge at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Mr. Hayes is shown with a photo provided by his UNCP Secretary Diane Prusink. UNCP
PEMBROKE — Joe Hayes enjoys giving back to young people in his hometown of Peanut City, Virginia.
For the past two years, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke senior has hosted the Hayes Stacking Days Youth Football Camp, bringing together college athletes and coaches to help local players hone their skills on the field. But Hayes has big dreams for his camp to go beyond football and impact the next generation, and at UNCP’s first BraveHawk Entrepreneur Challenge held on April 3, Hayes announced that he would be joining the expansion program, Stacking Dayz. I proposed an idea for an initiative.
After finishing, Hayes won the contest’s top prize of $1,000 to further develop his idea. “I am grateful and grateful for this experience,” said Hayes, a mass communications major. Expanding his efforts will include workshops on financial literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, and other essential life skills.
“Answering the judges’ questions felt like being on ‘Shark Tank,’ but it gave me confidence to continue to grow this program.”
The challenge, sponsored by the Thomas College of Business and Economics (TCOBE), gave 21 budding entrepreneurs from UNCP’s academic programs the opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of judges and answer questions. . TCOBE Dean Mohamed Jerjuli said the event will provide real-world experience and allow students to find out what it’s like to pitch a business idea to banks and potential investors. Stated.
“For a vocational school like ours, experiential learning is important,” says Gyergeri. “Half of business is book knowledge. The rest is professional skills and confidence in yourself. Experiences like this build confidence and can give students an edge as they start their careers. ”
Tashiana Locklear Gibson, who lives in nearby Maxton and uses a wheelchair, developed the idea for a customizable book bag with a canopy to protect people with mobility issues from the rain and other natural elements. Did.
Locklear Gibson, a fourth-year accounting, economics and finance student, placed second in the competition and won $750 in seed money. After answering her judges’ questions, she looks forward to taking her own ideas from concept to reality. “I think this was a jumpstart to making my product as big as possible,” Locklear Gibson said. “This is still in the conceptual stage, but this experience has given me the energy to motivate and inspire. It will give me the start I need.”
The competition’s five judges were drawn from TCOBE faculty and the local business community. Sheila Harris, Lecturer. Michael Barbera, part-time instructor. Tim Brooks, President of HealthKeeperz. Victoria Carter, Disaster Recovery Coordinator for the Town of Pembroke.
Gyergeli hopes the challenge will become an annual event that helps launch promising business ideas.
“Our goal is to pair students with great ideas with faculty who will help them create business plans that can be used to raise funds,” Gyergeli said. “We also want to find students with promising business ideas and join Thomas in his Entrepreneurship Hub to grow their ideas.”
