On Tuesday, Nov. 19, Culverhouse and the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute hosted the River Pitch Business Idea Competition, as part of a series of events tied to Global Entrepreneurship Week. River Pitch is a free event open to all aimed at helping local entrepreneurs kick start their business concept. At stake is a chance to win $1,000 –– and with multiple booths, each with their own pot, the chances were good that a solid business idea could be a winner.
River Pitch works like this: participants bring their business idea to the Tuscaloosa River Market and present it to a panel of judges made up of the local business community. While judges deliberate, participants network with area entrepreneurs and staff from the AEI.
The 2019 River Pitch Winners:
| Booth # | Business Name | Participant Name | Booth Type | Major and Classification, If Applicable |
Hometown |
| 1 | Geb Sustainable Starter Kits | Tillman Ritchey | Student-Track | Finance, Sophomore | Birmingham, AL |
| 2 | Pet Shelter | Riley Doyle | Student-Track | Management Entrepreneurship, Senior | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 3 | Bamboosable | Caroline Barnes | Student-Track | New College, Senior | Mobile, AL |
| 4 | Art Garage | Joanna Lemmon | Community-Track | N/A | Memphis, TN |
| 5 | MADE Health and Fitness, LLC | Michael Fedewa | Community-Track | N/A | Grand Rapids, MI |
| 6 | My First Time Machine | Dennis Miles | Community-Track | N/A | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 7 | Ensemble | Jennifer Stasiak | Student-Track | Management Entrepreneurship, Senior | Milwaukee, WI |
| 8 | SEACR | Adam Graff | Student-Track | Electrical Engineering, Sophomore | Pittsburgh, PA |
| 9 | DeedDoer.com | Leah M. Taylor | Community-Track | N/A | Tuscaloosa, AL |
Many thanks to all those who participated.