Local Colleges Pitch Ideas During State “Shark Tank” Competition

Teams from six local colleges convened at SUNYIT to pitch innovative ideas to local business people and investors.

The New York Business Plan Competition Semifinals were held Wednesday, featuring 22 teams from Utica College, SUNY Morrisville, SUNYIT, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Cobleskill and Fulton-Montgomery Community College.

Some ideas, like this one from two Utica College students, offered to help children be more creative and achieve more in school.

"N.O.M.A.D., which stands for New Opportunities Making a Difference, is basically the arts and education wrapped up in a mentorship program," UC student, Samuel Maldonado, said.

Others, like this one from SUNYIT student Michael Tedeschi, were a little more out of the box.

"We developed our company by basing our design around a Lady Gaga prototype of camera glasses that would take pictures and display them to anybody else that could see the product on the user," Tedeschi said.

At the end of the day, only a few teams scored high enough to pitch their idea on April 26th, during the finals at University at Albany. Winning ideas earn a portion of $225,000 dollars in prize money, including up to $50,000 for the best ideas.