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An awesome celebration of human ingenuity and Rockford’s entrepreneurial spirit”
Yesterday’s FastPitch Competition was a phenomenal success! Thirty plus entrepreneurs put everything on the line while attempting to convey why their product, service or idea was more worthy than their fellow competitors.
Twelve finalists made the stage vying for five cash prizes. The winner, Tracie Burress solves an age-old problem with her SockTABs product; combating the “Sock Monster!” Tracie stated, “SockTABs is a small and discreet pairing system designed to combat the Sock Monster, which alleviates the misery and frustration that we’ve all experienced in keeping our socks and their mates together.”
Second place winner, Casey Bankord’s product is SlimBooks. An online platform for people to read, create, discover, and contribute to brilliant, original, and digital books that are 100 pages or less. After the event, Casey said, “Thanks for putting on such a great event last night! It was really well planned and executed, and what an awesome celebration of human ingenuity and Rockford’s entrepreneurial spirit. It was a blast to be a part of! Keep up the great work!”
Stacy McCaskill took third place with FishWithMe. She shared that her goal is to capture just a minute portion of the $50 billion dollar market of underutilized fishing assets. Stacy shared, “GREAT JOB pulling off an excellent event. I really had a great time and learned a lot from the experience.”
Erin Hughes won the student prize with her Adjustable Server product, and Robert Haney clenched the CleanTech award with his product, Soletronix.
Keynote speaker, author Joe Abraham, shared his entrepreneurial wisdom at length to inspire startups and existing businesses that have plateaued and are looking for a game-changing paradigm shift. He encourages anyone who is interested to take the 10 question assessment to delve deeper into a business owners’ entrepreneurial DNA. Anyone who is interested in completing the entrepreneurial DNA assessment can contact the EIGERlab.
The finalists included: Craig Gundersen, 1st Table; Zina Horton, Zammuto’s Drive In and Carry Out; Tom Keenan, Cool Seat Coolers; Eric Kinzle, Family Advocate Mobile app.; Tony LaMarca, Metro Tool & Machine; Brad Marshall, AdsOrTails; Judy Reinhold, Kaliber Imaging; and Richard Walsh, AnvilWorks High Velocity Training.
This event was made possible by the EIGERlab, Rock Valley College, Rockford Area Economic Development Council, StateLine Angels, and our fabulous sponsors: Alpine Bank, Behr Iron & Metal, Catalyst Business Solutions, Centric Advisory Group, City of Rockford, Colorlab Cosmetics, Growth Dimensions, Leading Edge Hydraulics, IL Small Business Development Center at RVC, IL Procurement Technical Assistance Center at RVC, Northern Illinois Renewable Energy Summit & Expo,Rockford Area REALTORS, Rockford Chamber of Commerce, Rockford Bank & Trust, Rockford Local Development Corporation, Savant Capital Management, Seward Screw Products, Sikich, Stillman Bank, Universal Die Cast, WilliamsMcCarthy & Winnebago County.