Salina area students will be among those participating in a “Shark Tank” inspired competition at Kansas State University this week.
According to the school, the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge, a statewide student entrepreneurship competition featuring high school and collegiate teams from across Kansas, will be Tuesday, April 24th.
The contest, which is in partnership with the Kansas Masonic Foundation and Network Kansas, offers $75,000 in prize money to student entrepreneurs who will pitch their businesses to a panel of judges consisting of entrepreneurs, bankers and investment experts in a “Shark Tank”-like environment.
Preliminary rounds of the competition will get underway at 9 a.m. in the College of Business Building. The top four teams from each division will advance to the final round of pitches, which are open to the public and begin at 2 p.m. in the Business Building’s Executive Conference Room.
In addition, the Entrepreneurship Trade Show will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Business Building atrium, followed by a keynote speech from 2017 Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year, Scott Kreshel from the Blue Valley Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies, at 1 p.m. in the lecture hall.
High school teams: This year’s competition features 44 high school teams representing communities around the state: Baldwin High School; Blue Valley West High School; Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies, or CAPS; Buhler High School; Centre High School; Chase County High School; Cherryvale High School; Cheylin High School; Colby High School; Clay Center Community High School; Dodge City High School; Emporia High School; Eudora High School; Goodland High School; Hodgeman County High School; Labette County High School; Leavenworth High School; Lincoln High School; Manhattan High School; Paola High School; Parsons High School; Phillipsburg High School; Pike Valley High School; Plainville High School; Rawlins County High School; Salina Central High School; Salina South High School; Scott Community High School; Sedan High School; Shawnee Mission Northwest High School; Shawnee Mission West High School; Southeast High School; St. John High School; Sterling High School; Wichita County High School; Wichita East High School; and Winfield High School. Also participating will be Gloria Deo Academy, Springfield, Missouri.
Collegiate teams: Emporia State University; Fort Hays State University; Kansas State University; Pittsburgh State University; University of Kansas; Washburn University; and Wichita State University.
