Coastal Venture Competition 2019
Posted on April 1, 2019 by MCOB Outreach

The University of South Alabama Melton Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MCEI) hosted the Coastal Venture and High School Pitch Competition on Friday, April 12, 2019. This was especially unique as it was the first-year high schools students were eligible to compete. Twenty-four students comprising eight teams from Baker, Bryant, Davidson, Murphy, and Williamson high schools competed in the inaugural Coastal Venture High School Competition. Twenty college teams submitted videos during the weeks leading up to the event, resulting in six finalists. The top four contestants competed live, Shark Tank style, in front of judges and an audience comprised of students, professors, business professionals, and MCEI Board Members. Over $20,000 in prizes and in-kind services were awarded to competitors.
The $4,000 grand prize winner was Bailey Duos, who presented Port City Pups, a doggy daycare business she plans to open in downtown Mobile later this year. Bailey will be provided one year of accounting and consulting services by Hartmann, Blackmon, and Kilgore, P.C. Patricia West took home $3,000 as first runner up with Marketeer, a company that provides marketing consulting to small businesses. The law office of John R. Nix will assist Patricia in forming her LLC and AdamsIP, LLC will conduct a trademark search. Second runner up Ronnie Reed and Brannon Schaffer won $2,000 by successfully presenting MyFam Entertainment, a company that assists independent artists in showcasing their dreams and talents. They will receive 10 consulting hours from Innovation PortAL and be provided a business valuation from William Bruce Business Sales & Acquisitions, LLC. Reagan Oswald took home the third runner up trophy and $1,000 for her makerspace concept, The Workshop. Taking home $500 each were honorable mentions Kailee Kiminski with BayWave Music Festival and Randy Bumpers with his idea of the Gap Project.
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