DURHAM – Team Crazy 8 Beach Valet from Souhegan High School was the runner-up and earned $3,000 for its venture at the inaugural BizGen competition on June 7, when budding entrepreneurs from six high schools competed.

Team Apollo Solar from Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic High School made the winning pitch and earned $5,000.

The University of New Hampshire’s Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics hosted the 12 teams of emerging entrepreneurs from schools in southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Other high schools participating were Pinkerton Academy, Derry; Triton Regional High School, Byfield, Mass.; Portsmouth High School; and Oyster River High School, Durham.

Crazy 8 Beach Valet proposed a beach valet service that moves all those beach chairs, umbrellas and blankets to and from the perfect beach spot for beachgoing families.

Coming in third was another Souhegan team, Campus Cab.

Its idea is a mobile app for college students and cab service, with the bonus of allowing parents to fund the account.

Team Apollo Solar’s idea is a solar-powered case for mobile phones.

Leading up to the competition, the teams developed their ideas into business plans with the help of volunteer coaches and mentors from the area’s business community.

Business plans were judged on factors such as revenue, market share, change in conditions and social impact.

The founding partners of BizGen include the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at UNH; the Office of the Vice Provost for Research at UNH; Bank of America, and Kirk Communications.

For more information, visit www.
biz-gen.org.

“We hear the statistic all the time: small businesses provide 55 percent of all U.S. jobs, and 66 percent of all net new jobs since the 1970s,” said Ken Johnson, BizGen Founder. “We believe that promoting entrepreneurship at the high school level will help ensure the success of our economy and encourage the next generation of business leaders.”