BOONE—Business students at Appalachian State University will have 90 seconds to pitch their best business idea during the Annual Carole Moore McLeod Entrepreneur Summit on Oct. 27 in Raley Hall.

The newly established Center for Entrepreneurship in Appalachian’s Walker College of Business will host the annual “Pitch Your Idea in 90 Seconds” competition as part of the summit’s activities.

More than 100 students are expected to submit ideas.  The top 20 will be selected as finalists to compete before a panel of entrepreneurs.

This year the competition will be sponsored by Mission House Creative, a successful marketing and communications firm in Raleigh that began as an entrepreneurial endeavor in 1999.

Jim Roessner, co-founder and president of Mission House, is a 1995 Walker College graduate. He has been involved with Appalachian’s entrepreneur summit and the “90 Seconds” contest for many years. He has spoken at the summit the past three years, and in 2004, served as a panel judge.

“I’ve been very impressed with many of the pitches in the past and look forward to seeing this year’s innovative ideas,” Roessner said. “We at Mission House are sponsoring this competition because we have seen and know that a brilliant new creative idea is always just around the corner. Sometimes all someone needs is a little encouragement.”

First prize is $1,000. Second and third place winners will receive $500 and $250 respectively. Former contest finalists have begun new businesses that are operating today. These include Waste Consultants Inc., a solid waste management consulting company, 3tailer LLC, a search engine optimization company and I.Wingfield Photography, a student-run wedding, fine art, portraiture and documentary photography business.

“We are thrilled with Mission House Creative’s sponsorship of the ‘Pitch Your Idea in 90 Seconds’ competition,” Bryan Toney, director for the Center for Entrepreneurship, said.

“This event has always been very visible in the past,” Toney said. “But with the Center for Entrepreneurship launch, Mission House Creative’s sponsorship, and even more campus anticipation and excitement about entrepreneurship, we can’t wait to see what ideas students will bring this year.”

The “Pitch Your Idea in 90 Seconds” competition originated in 2002 due to the growing interests by current and prospective students about entrepreneurship. Currently, more than 1,000 business alumni of the Walker College of Business own their own business.

Mission House Creative is an independent marketing and communications agency offering an award-winning team of creative and marketing professionals. MHC helps clients achieve bottom-line business success by providing the knowledge and insight necessary to anticipate change, strategically position their products and services and achieve measurable results.

Some of the agency’s clients include Allscripts/A4 Health Systems, NCGives, UNC-Chapel Hill Student Affairs, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Peace College, the Duke Center for Human Genetics and UNC-Chapel Hill Undergraduate Admissions.

The Center for Entrepreneurship was created in spring 2006 to support faculty, student and regional interest in entrepreneurship. More than 1,000 Walker College of Business alumni are active entrepreneurs. In addition, more than 200 students a year enroll in entrepreneur courses in the business college.

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