The Citadel to host the inaugural SoCon Entrepreneurship Challenge this weekend

Photo: The atrium of Bastin Hall, home of The Citadel’s Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business, where the SoCon Entrepreneurship Challenge will be held.

Note: The two teams representing The Citadel in the SoCon Entrepreneurship Challenge previously competed in the college’s annual Baker Business Bowl.

From SoCon Academic Exchange

The inaugural Southern Conference Entrepreneurship Challenge will take place this Friday and Saturday at The Citadel’s Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business in Charleston, South Carolina.

The event, a product of the Southern Conference’s Academic Exchange program, is an entrepreneurship challenge pitch competition designed to showcase students with an idea for an innovative business or non-profit organization; thus, the competition features two tracks – For-Profit and Non-Profit. All 10 institutions in the SoCon will have one team representing them in each track, with the selection process for the teams to be determined by each individual school. The winning team from each track will be awarded $10,000.

“We are very excited about this first ever, annual SoCon Entrepreneurship Challenge,” SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus said. “It is another dynamic, academic-based program which the SoCon sponsors and illustrates that our conference is more than just athletic competition. Some of our institution’s best and brightest students will compete in a format similar to the “Shark Tank” television show for awards and financial prizes. It should be a lot of fun. Thanks to The Citadel for hosting our first event at their brand-new business school facility.”

The SoCon Entrepreneurship Challenge will feature a semifinal pitch round with all 20 teams presenting their ideas on Friday. A separate panel of judges for each track will identify a select number of teams to move on to the final pitch competition round, to be held on Saturday.

“We are honored to be hosting the inaugural SoCon Entrepreneurship Challenge here at The Citadel,” said Michael Weeks, Ph.D., dean of the Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business. “The Citadel has a long history of encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit of our cadets and students, and we couldn’t be more excited to see our teams compete with like-minded students from other institutions in the Southern Conference.”