IN PHOTO (from left): Doug Schacht, entrepreneurship instructor; Heather Schroeder, founder and owner of Fire Tutoring; Mary Downs, executive director of the FVTC Foundation & Community Relations; and Bill Bradley, vice president commercial banking at Bank First National ​

The Business division at Fox Valley Technical College recently hosted its inaugural Fox Trap Pitch event, a student competition for aspiring or current entrepreneurs.

The experience provided a platform for students with interest in small business ownership to learn how to shape their messaging in order to garner support. Like an “elevator pitch,” students are given a set amount of time to persuade judges to support their enterprise. Skills in communication, digital marketing, organization, leadership, and more emerged during the pitch. The concept is similar to how business owners pitch companies to secure funding for a project, expansion, a new start up, etc.

Heather Schroeder, founder and owner of an on-the-go tutoring service called Fire Tutoring, earned first place and a $1,000 prize for her pitch. Schroeder is a student in the Individualized Technical Studies program, emphasizing in Educational Consulting.

Students Adanna Okeke, Nursing, and Taylor Blank, Business Management – Entrepreneurship, earned second and third place finishes, respectively.

The event was sponsored by Bank First National, the FVTC Foundation, and the college’s Student Life department. Established small business owners and professionals from around the region volunteered to serve on a five-member panel as judges.