On December 18th, the St. Petersburg College Seminole campus CEO Entrepreneurship club brought together the Tampa Bay area’s future business leaders for the club’s holiday meeting. Students had the opportunity to share ideas, do an elevator pitch, have their business plan evaluated, and enjoyed delicious snacks.

The entrepreneurship club is the only Seminole campus organization to meet after the close of the fall term, and members showed an obvious enthusiasm for learning from each other and the club’s advisers. The club’s officers, President Michael Pleasant, Vice-President Michael Ganote, Treasurer Laken Hamby, and Co-Secretaries Brandon Wong and Patrick Chan organized the end of the year meeting. Entrepreneurship program director Nicolle Panuthos and Professor Michael Poliquin were on hand to help officers make plans for the coming term and provide encouragement to the students doing their elevator pitches at the meeting.

The first was Ben Woods’s presentation for his business Banaca, which will produce better shades for strollers keeping babies safe from the hot Florida sun. Woods was inspired in part by his own experiences as a father when he moved to Florida from New York and was dissatisfied by the stroller shades available for his child. Woods said that the entrepreneurship program at St. Petersburg College inspired him to turn his problem into a career. After a brief question and answer period, Michael Ganote stepped to the podium to pitch his business, Elite Interviews.

Ganote wants to use the skills he acquired as an army interrogator to help retail companies spot deception in prospective employees. His business would provide workshops and consulting services to human resources departments with a focus on reducing theft by employees. During the question and answer session, Professor Poliquin advised Ganote to focus on the benefits he can provide to retailers during his pitch. The final pitch was by Michael Pleasant on his business plan to provide services for aging baby boomers.

Pleasant pitched Pleasant Retirement Services, a firm that would provide referrals for a wide range of services to people approaching retirement and the newly retired. During the question and answer period, students examined the fundamentals of his plan, discussing pricing, and other ways the business could be of service to customers. At the conclusion of the meeting the club’s leadership announced that the first meeting of the spring 2015 term will take place on January 22nd from 5 P.M. until 7 P.M., the club meets in UP 156. Keep up with the latest from the club by following them on Facebook.

Closing at the pitch.

A video posted by SPC Sandbox News (@sandboxnews) on Dec 18, 2014 at 3:42pm PST

This event was reported live on The Sandbox News live twitter, and captured on Instagram. Follow us for live coverage and photos from on campus and around Tampa Bay.