Students take business ideas to Shark Tank

By JENNA MINK, The Daily News, jmink@bgdailynews.com

While practicing with her high school marching band, Emily Wurst developed an idea - it’s an idea investors would have pumped $80,000 into.

Wurst and her group were one of seven teams of area high school students who participated Tuesday in Junior Achievement of Southcentral Kentucky’s first Shark Tank.

The event, which mirrors the television show with the same name, challenges students to develop a new business. The challenge was announced in August, although some students did not begin work until about a week ago.

During Tuesday’s competition, students presented their business plans to four local businesspeople, who judged them and gave students fake investment dollars. The team that garnered the biggest investment was the winner.

Hitcents, the event sponsor, also gave away a laptop computer during a prize drawing.

“I think it’s an important thing to learn at a young age that anybody can start a business,” said Heather Rogers, Junior Achievement president.

Wurst and her teammates, students at Warren East High School, pitched their new band helmet, dubbed Band Pro 2020. The helmet has built-in mirrors, which allow marchers to see behind them while marching.

While in the color guard, Scarlett Arnold, a Warren East High School student, often saw her teammates swing flags and hit band members, who couldn’t see behind them.

“It can come around and hit them,” she said.

Students presented their business plans, which included their ideas, financial estimates and sample commercials. When the judges handed out investments, Band Pro 2020 got the most dough.

“It’s exciting,” Wurst said. “I knew it’d be close; there were a lot of good products.”

The runner-up, a group from Monroe County High School, got $70,000 for their nonprofit organization, Let’s Hear It.

“We were teens and we knew what we wanted,” group member Destiny Kinzel said.

“We thought other teens would want it, too.”

Other teams pitched new products, such as a hair spray that touches up highlights, a pencil dispenser for classrooms and funky headbands.

Some came up with new businesses - a superstore that caters to the punk culture and a unique purse shop.

Team Spirit, a group from Bowling Green High School that developed the pencil dispenser, came in third.

The most difficult part of the challenge was designing the product - a wood shop class helped design and build the model dispenser, they said.

“Kids are always asking for pencils in class,” said Brandon Payne, a team member.

Each product could one day be a viable business and the competition was a close one, said Tim Earnhart, a Shark Tank judge and founder of Earnhart + Friends Advertising in Bowling Green.

Earnhart was a sophomore in high school when he decided to someday own an advertisement agency, he said.

This competition “helps them prepare for the next stage of life,” he said.

“It’s nice to see this type of interest already at their age.”

Wurst said the challenge was fun but difficult.

“One of the biggest challenges was trying to get estimates for all of our costs,” she said. “We had to consider about everything.”