Pitch Competition prizes jumpstart business school students’ entrepreneurial ambitions
By John Paul Brissette ’25
Two teams of business students are putting their prize money from a recent Providence College entrepreneurship competition to good use.
Charles Baroni ’26 and Chris Daley ’26 took the $2,500 second prize for their idea, Northeast Customs, a boat replacement cushion concept, at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Elevator Pitch Competition, organized by the Donald Ryan ’69 Incubator. Dory Aine ’24 and Josh Cohn ’24 won third place and a prize of $1,000 for their proposal to create a marketing firm for home contractors called D&J Contractor Marketing. Mary Gifford ’25, a social sciences major and business and innovation minor, received first place and $5,000 for her campus consignment store, Friartown’s Closet.
Kelly Stone, director of the Ryan Incubator for Entrepreneurship, said it has been so inspirational to get to work with so many students from across the PC campus include PCSB students. “They have amazing vision and put hours of work developing their businesses and preparing for this pitch competition,” she said. “I am also so grateful to the many PC alums who supported the development of these business concepts as well as coached the students on their pitches.”
The competition not only serves as a platform for showcasing innovative business ideas but also provides financial support to help turn their ideas into reality. The Northeast Customs team expressed how crucial the startup money awarded at the competition will be to their entrepreneurship efforts.
“Despite the significant startup capital required for our venture, the award of $2,500 stands as a crucial steppingstone,” Baroni and Daley said. “The prize money we received will be used to travel across the states, fostering connections with potential business partners and expanding our network.”
D&J Marketing’s award is also helping them jumpstart their business. “The prize money is going toward startup costs at the moment — things like paying for the programs we need, legal expenses for becoming a business, and marketing tools like business cards and online ads,” Aine said.
Students see the value of entrepreneurship and the effects that it can have to better communities and strive for innovation. “We both believe entrepreneurship gives a chance to better yourself and the community you are in. Where there is a need, there will always be new opportunities to innovate,” Cohn said.
The Northeast Customs team agreed. “We firmly believe that entrepreneurship plays a pivotal role in transforming innovative ideas into tangible realities,” Baroni and Daley said.
The students say Providence College is lucky to have events like the Elevator Pitch Competition.
“Competitions of this nature serve as platforms for skill development, enhancing time management capabilities, and cultivating connections with staff and students,” Baroni said. “Acknowledging the significance of such events, we are grateful for the opportunity to participate, recognizing the broader implications for personal and professional development.”
This competition does more than just inspire students, it gives the opportunity to turn business ideas into a reality. “We are both two college students who had an idea, and now we are able to get past many of the barriers that were slowing us down,” Cohn said.
Special thanks go to entrepreneurs Jon Mason ’96, Eddie Martucci ’04, and Jody Merrill ’01, who served as judges at the competition, as well as the Anne Goss Foundation and Providence College School of Business, who funded the prizes.
Ramirez said she was also excited that other students who have business ideas were inspired by the students who participated this year and have reached out for support for the Ryan Incubator as they too work on further developing their concepts.
