More than a dozen Averett University students pitched their small business ideas to three community judges and a packed room of their peers for a chance to win one of three cash prizes.

On Thursday, Nov. 14, Averett’s Department of Business Administration and its Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation held the University’s third Gong Show Pitch Competition in the Student Center’s multipurpose room on Averett’s Main Campus.

The night’s winners included:

First Place: Senior Marketing Management Major Elias Lehmann and Sophomore Communications Major Amelie Schroeder
Presented “Sun Gum” – a business that makes and sells gum supplemented with Vitamin D.
$200 Prize

Second Place: Sophomore Finance Major Maxime Gaudry
Presented “AU-Livery” – a business that works with Averett’s Dining Hall by delivering coffee to students on campus and surrounding community.
$100 Prize

Third Place: Senior Business Administration Major Jaeden Mukkaladyil
Presented “Bounce Back” – a business that developed a way to re-inflate tennis balls to extend the life of the tennis ball as it is used.
$50 Prize

Three volunteer judges from the community asked questions and selected the winners. Judges included Gino Harris, Averett alumnus and e-commerce manager for Evend, Adam Jones, owner/operator of The Brick, and Lori Jones, Dan River High School faculty member and DECA sponsor, who brought a few of her DECA students to observe.

In addition to the winners, the following Averett students delivered pitch presentations: Jarno Kelander, Colby Peel, Julius Bert, Zach Alway, Satwik Kollepalli, Lucia Sanchez Diez, Erika Lindstrom, Eduardo Jaraba, Louis de Lulio and Jackson Higgins.