Pellissippi State students win cash for businesses

Three students earned thousands of dollars through a business pitch competition last month on the Friendsville campus of Pellissippi State Community College.

Alen Muharemi and Simone Durrace each received $2,000 and Maria “Lupe” Cornejo $1,000, thanks to a grant from the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship teacher Samira Abdalla hopes to receive further funding to offer the experience again. “I’m thrilled for them to have the opportunity to showcase their business acumen,” she said.

Over the semester students look at all facets of running a successful organization — the ideas can include nonprofits too. Some students may come to the class with hobbies they want to develop into side gigs, or they may have a business they want to grow to the next level.

“You don’t have to have an idea fleshed out,” she said.

Through the process they learn about “all the pitfalls that a small business is prone to,” she said, as well as the value of having a team of experts to consult.

“Entrepreneurship is not one size fits all,” Abdalla said,. “It’s OK if you have an idea and you go through the process of validating it and it’s not the right time.”

Pellissippi State began offering an entrepreneurship concentration in its business degree program last year, and the 17 competitors are among its first graduates.

Students worked on business plans throughout the semester as a capstone project and created video pitches. Business faculty narrowed the field to five, who pitched their ideas live to a panel of judges April 26.

“It’s like a Shark Tank,” Cornejo said of the Panther Pitch event, noting that the judges asked a lot of financial quesitons.

She is working toward a goal of opening a barber school she’s calling RazorEdge Innovational Institute. “I grew up watching my uncle run a successful business,” said the student from Sweetwater, who plans to graduate in December.

“One day, I’m going to be doing this,” Cornejo said of her business plan.

Muharemi, a business major with a design studies minor from Knoxville, said he is passionate about art He already has created a mural at a barbershop and pitched an idea for a Mighty Murals business. The judges’ questions helped him think about narrowing the niche for the business.

“Win or lose, you still learn a lot,” Muharemi said.