The Bottle Works is the Place to Be on November 16, 2017!

The ten finalists in Ben Franklin’s 2017 BIG IDEA Contest will be making their presentations to a panel of area judges beginning sharply at 1:35 PM on Thursday, November 16, 2017.  Each presenter will get five minutes to make their pitch followed by seven minutes of Q&A.

If you know any of the folks listed below, or if you are just excited about the Startup Alleghenies initiative in general, we’d love to have you stop by the Bottle Works, located at 411 Third Avenue in Johnstown, to hear the presentations:

• Joseph DiGangi with AssureTech
• Justin Capouellez with Boomerang Beacon
• Heather Moyer with Crossroads Consulting
• Mark Kasterko with MT Arms
• Adam Stokes with muonSoft
• Donald Nixon with Nixon’s Technical Service
• Hunter Swisher with Phospholutions
• Ryan Kieta with Real Design
• James Wang with SimplrTechnologies
• Anthony Biddle with Siterite

The finalists’ presentations will conclude at 5:00 PM, and a catered reception will immediately follow.  While the judges deliberate, you are invited to enjoy the refreshments and network with the finalists.  This will allow you to learn more about all of them in preparation for casting your vote for the People’s Choice Award which will close at 6:15 PM.  All of the winners will be announced at 6:30 PM.

This year’s cash prizes will be awarded to four winners:
First Place: $25,000; Second Place: $15,000; Third Place: $7,500; and a People’s Choice Award: $2,500.

In Addition To The $25,000, The First Place Winner Will Also Receive:

• A Pre-Seed Grant from Ben Franklin cnp.benfranklin.org valued at up to $10,000
• A one-year pass to seminars offered by Ben Franklin’s eMarketing Learning Center http://emarketinglearningcenter.org valued at $3,000
• A free consult (and proposal prep), valued at $3,000 on how to access Federal R&D grant money from the Innovation Partnership http://innovationpartnership.net
• Planning to Attend?  Send a quick note to jilledwards@psu.edu