PORT HURON — Be part of the live audience when would-be entrepreneurs compete in the Blue Water Region’s own “Shark Tank” style business competition, Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Ten 10 finalists will compete for $15,500 in cash prizes in the “Greenlight Port Huron Business Model Competition,” the region’s largest-ever business pitch event.
The pitches will be made in front of a panel of judges and the live audience at the St. Clair County Community College Fine Arts Building on Erie Street in Port Huron, where registration and seating starts at 4:45 p.m. Audience members will vote for the $500 Crowd Choice winner.
The free event will continue at TechPort, 208 Huron Ave., where audience members and entrepreneurs will enjoy appetizers and networking with angel and venture capital investors from the area, and winners will be announced. A shuttle from the college and back will be available.
The Grand Prize winner will receive $10,000, and win the first annual Harbor Muskie trophy, a three-dimensional model of a muskie produced by Michigan State University students and finished by local entrepreneurs. The Grand Prize winner also will earn a guaranteed seat to the Greenlight Michigan pitch competition, coming up on March 31 at Michigan State University in East Lansing (see http://www.greenlightmichigan.com/).
The finalists who will make their pitches were selected from a field of more than 20 applicants to the competition, sponsored by TechPort; TechPort Harbor Muskies; Spartan Innovations; the state of Michigan; the Community Foundation of St. Clair County Community Capital Club (C3); the Economic Development Administration of St. Clair County; St. Clair Community College; and Radio First.
The event is free, but seating is limited and pre-registration is required. Register online or find out more at www.greenlightporthuron.com. Contact Spartan Innovations with questions at www.spartaninnovations.org.