Record of LWC students pitch business ideas at 4th annual Business Concept Competition

A record 117 Lindsey Wilson College students participated in the fourth-annual Business Concept Competition, held Thursday at Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. The event was sponsored by the LWC Center for Entrepreneurship.

The LWC students -- who comprised 39 teams -- pitched business plans to a three-judge panel. A total of $2,100 in seed money was awarded to the top six teams, with the first-place team given $1,000. The first-place team was Convo, who proposed creating a smartphone app that would translate text messages into a user’s native language. The four-member team included LWC students: Pacific Mutayongwa of the Democratic Republic of Congo; Billal Qsiyer of Illzach, France; Elijah Ukpong of Lagos, Nigeria; and Greg Young of Nashville, Tenn.

The contest judges were: Jennifer Flatford, Walmart human resources manager; Kristen Sexton, a Taylor County (Ky.) High School marketing teacher; and David Stewart of Institute of Lean Systems.

Picture one: Members of the award-winning Convo team display a facsimile check for $1,000 after winning first place in the fourth-annual Lindsey Wilson College Business Concept Competition, held Thursday at Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. From left: LWC Center for Entrepreneurship Linda McKinley-Grider; judge Kristen Sexton of Taylor County (Ky.) High School; Convo team member Elijah Ukpong of Lagos, Nigeria; judge David Stewart of Institute of Lean Systems; Convo team members Pacific Mutayongwa of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Greg Young of Nashville, Tenn.; and judge Jennifer Flatford, Walmart human resources manager. Not pictured: Convo team member Billal Qsiyer of Illzach, France.

Picture two: Lindsey Wilson College student Trent Mueller of Nashville, Tenn., presents his business concept during the fourth-annual Lindsey Wilson College Business Concept Competition, held Thursday at Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. Mueller and teammate Ethan Calvert of Scottsville, Ky., won second place and received $500 for their idea to create a safer kind of tobacco dip.