Tuesday 5 June saw the GSEA arrive at a beautiful, sunny Villanova University campus for the Pennsylvania and New Jersey GSEA Regional Finals. Originally slated for eight competitors, various excuses saw three competitors decline to attend the competition. However, there is no room for excuses in business or in the GSEA and the five competitors that showed came salivating at the chance to dominate and move on to the GSEA Global Finals - where a prize package valued at over $125,000 and growing awaits the victor!
Our PA/NJ Judges:
(L to R: Gary Robins, President of the GL Robins Company, Allen Noll, President of The Payroll Factory, Ed Sullivan, CEO of Aria Systems, and Brian Newmark, President of Veterans Financial Services)
Jason Drohn was first up to present his business, Tech Solution, to our judging panel comprised of local members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s EO Philadelphia chapter (above photo). Jason’s business and upcoming product line revolve around the SEO niche - search engine optimization. Jason shared his tale of originally starting his business as an IT training, consulting and web design company. He drew some laughs from the crowd when asked “What is your biggest mistake?” - Jason answered “Buying ads in the Yellow Book. Colossal waste of money - I got one call and it was someone asking for help with a video game.” One of his bigger successes was creating his weblog, which has become a source of a lot of entrepreneurial ideas from readers around the world. You can check it out at www.jdsblog.com!
Next up was the Ice Cream Man of Central PA - Demetri Patitsas. Demitri’s business (along with being a salsa instructor) is Absolute Creo, which is bringing back the ice cream truck with the friendly face that seems to have disappeared. Demetri went from a pre-med route to entrepreneurship, with his passion of selling an experience as opposed to just selling ice cream. Demetri was very enthusiastic during his presentation, showing that he has a real passion for business and entrepreneurship. He left right after his presentation to drive to Washington DC to receive another award for entrepreneurship… what a trooper!
The very bubbly and excited Penny Smith, owner of Zion USA was next up and delivered her presentation excellently. Penny told the judges about her company, which is a government contractor and delivers all sorts of services. Reselling to the government, providing contract cleaning, Penny’s niche is knowing exactly how to work the US Government contracting system and she’s an expert. Penny was surprised when the timekeeper signalled that she had one minute left in her presentation, and quickly finished up to take questions from the judges. She also told how she employs high school students, back to work program individuals, and minorities to provide jobs to those in need.
Shreyans Parekh of Koyal Wholesale was next up to present. Shreyans’ business sells all sorts of bulk products to markets such as the wedding market, supplying all sorts of materials. One key part of his business is www.towervase.com, which sells (you guessed it!) a wide range of vases. Shreyans shared how tough it was to overcome his young age… no credit with suppliers, banks, or anyone. He overcame this by supplying prompt payment to continue to improve the trust that his suppliers placed in his business and was successful. He is also making great use of his learnings at the Wharton School to continue to improve his accounting, marketing and overall, his business.
Last but not least was Andrew Cavitolo, CEO of high-end apparel designer Nonami Premium. You may have seen Andrew’s clothing in stores such as Bloomingdales and other high end boutiques. Andrew showed the judges how he learned some tough lessons from day one, having to buy out a partner that wasn’t holding up his end of the bargain. He also learned about PR, purchasing, and other areas of high fashion through the school of falling and getting back up repeatedly. Andrew was excited to share and show off his product placement in upcoming movies, TV shows, magazines and more.
With the students ushered out and the scoring process started, our GSEA staffer on site was shaking his head with laughter as we discovered that once again, the judges had brought a tie for first place in the competition. After a long deliberation, the standings were agreed upon unanimously, and here they are:
First Place: Andrew Cavitolo - Nonami Premium - Fairleigh Dickinson University
Second Place: Penny Smith - Zion USA - Fairleigh Dickinson University
Third Place: Demetri Patitsas - Absolute Creo - Juniata College
So, Andrew and Penny are the latest two competitors to join us in Chicago in November for the GSEA Global Finals.
Stay tuned to www.gsea.org for more regional updates - including GSEA Australia and also… exciting news about the upcoming GSEA BOOK!
