McKee announces finalists for ‘Entrepreneurship Challenge’

Students will compete for $9,000 in scholarships on Aug. 18 at New England Institute of Technology

PROVIDENCE — Lt. Gov. Dan McKee announced the finalists of Rhode Island’s first Lt. Governor’s Entrepreneurship Challenge (LGEC), a business pitch competition for high school students to compete for thousands of dollars in post-secondary scholarships.

Over 40 teams from high schools across the state participated in round one of the challenge by crafting detailed written business plans that address marketing, growth strategies, market conditions and more. The top five teams will advance to the LGEC Finals on Saturday, Aug. 18 at the New England Institute of Technology in East Greenwich:

Food from Friends by Zara Salem, Teo Milner, Brooke Nyman and Noah Werbel of Moses Brown; KL Consulting by Kerrie Larson of Mount Hope High School; Loop & Knot by Malitey Mullings of The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center; Swanson Capital by Max Swanson, Nathan Watts and Ryan Watts of Ponaganset High School; and Vadati VR by Sree Dasari of La Salle Academy.

At the LGEC Finals, students will present their business pitches to a panel of Rhode Island millennial business owners and receive scholarships based on their pitch scores.

“Rhode Islanders are innovators and our students are no exception. I was blown away by the creativity, thoroughness and passion that went into in each written business plan we received as part of the first Lt. Governor’s Entrepreneurship Challenge. I want to thank all applicants for their bold forward thinking. These students have the entrepreneurial spirit Rhode Island needs to succeed,” said McKee. “Best of luck to our finalists.”

The LGEC Finals event is free and open to the public. Rhode Islanders are encouraged to attend and can reserve a seat online at www. rilgec.com.

The challenge is sponsored by the Credit Unions of Rhode Island and hosted in partnership with Millennial RI .