Best Business Idea Competition Winners

Published: February 16, 2018 | Read Time: 2 minutes

The Small Business Development Center at Southern Utah University is proud to announce the winners of the 12th Annual Best Business Idea Competition. The event was sponsored by the SBDC, the SUU School of Business, Southwest Technical College, Cedar City Chamber of Commerce, USTAR, Staheli West, TouchMD, and Hughes and Associates.

The competition is open to all SUU students and all residents of Iron, Beaver, and Garfield County. Additional funding is available specifically for student participants through Opportunity Quest, a statewide competition sponsored by Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. Winners can only use the prize money for the implementation, support, or funding of the business invention or innovation which formed the basis of their winning entry.

Participants apply by submitting an online form that involves describing their project, providing information about themselves, and submitting an optional, but highly encouraged, two-minute video describing their idea. A panel of judges made up of successful entrepreneurs, community and business leaders, and School of Business faculty will then determine the finalists who get to present their “elevator pitch” to a live panel of judges. A total of 29 entries were submitted this year.

The results from this years competition are as follows:                

	Prize	Recipient	Business Description
1st Place	$5,000	Evgenia Marushko (SUU student)	Interactive athlete recruiting app
2nd Place	$3,000	Spencer Crankshaw (SUU student)	Self-leveling sleeping pad
3rd Place	$1,000	Christopher Christiansen (SUU student)	Physician coordinated, location specific travel first aid kits
Honorable Mention	$500	Isaac Askeroth	ClearSecure – provides powerful window security film to protect your home, office and vehicles
Honorable Mention	$500	Scott Leavitt	Free centralized address directory service

Zion’s Bank sponsored Opportunity Quest (Student only) Competition:

	Prize	Recipient	Business Description
1st Place	$2,000	Evgenia Marushko (SUU student)	Interactive athlete recruiting app
2nd Place	$1,000	Spencer Crankshaw (SUU student)	Self-leveling sleeping pad
3rd Place	$750	Christopher Christiansen (SUU student)	Physician coordinated, location specific travel first aid kits
Honorable Mention	$500	Andrew Dana (SUU student)	Buoyant swim pack

“It is very rewarding to see the response to the competition challenge,” said Craig Isom, Executive Director of the SUU Business Resource Center and Small Business Development Center. “There’s lots of talent in our community and many untapped ideas and opportunities.  We’re happy to see so many great ideas and to have the level of interest we have in this kind of event. Now we just have to keep the ball rolling and support the launch of some new, successful businesses, and build upon this start to increased community partnership.”

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