December 16, 2021

Business administration students at Medicine Hat College (MHC) have once again demonstrated their creativity and innovative-thinking with a fresh batch of viable business venture ideas.

In a pitch-style competition, sponsored by Paradise Valley Golf Course, two sections of students presented their ideas to local industry-leading judges in hopes of taking home the grand cash prize and top recognition for their concepts.

Miranda Davies, business instructor at MHC, says although the project has been part of the curriculum for multiple years, the ideas that stem from the assignment each semester never fail to exceed her expectations.

“Having taught this course for 11 years, I am apprehensive that the next group may not be able to maintain the level of excellence as the year prior. However, our students are so responsive to their external environment that they adapt appropriately to find new and innovative ideas – we’ve never had the same idea come up twice. I truly believe our business students can solve any problem and my students have amazed me once again!”

The top business ideas earning first place and $350 per team included Pencil Wraps, decorative stickers designed for Gen Z’s to spruce up writing utensils, and Safety Sticks, a stir stick that detects drugs unknowingly put into cocktails.

Logan Resch, one of four creators of Safety Sticks, says their idea was in response to the make-up of their team.

“Being that we’re all young women, we decided to develop a safety tool for socializing. Knowing that there are already similar products on the market, we knew we had to come up with something unique.

“Over the course of the semester, we made improvements and some small advances to our business idea but it never changed too much. Originally we started with just a straw, but pivoted to a stir stick to appeal to another customer group – restaurant and bar owners who want to ensure safety in their establishment.”

Public health measures throughout the pandemic have prevented presentations from occurring in-person over the last two years. That changed this semester which both Davies and Resch agree was welcome and exciting.

“It was a bit nerve-wracking presenting to a live audience as it had been a while since I’ve done an in-person presentation, but it was such a fun experience. One of the things I learned throughout the semester is to always be confident in what you are presenting, because no one else knows if it is going exactly how you practiced it,” shares Resch.

Davies extends her gratitude to Paradise Valley Golf Course for their generous support of the competition, donating $1000 to be divided up amongst the winning groups. She also acknowledges the following individuals for donating their time and expertise in participating on the judging panels:

• Jerri Gainer, Branch Manager at ATB Financial
• Greg Scott, Business Analyst at Community Futures Entre-Corp
• Timothy Spielman, Dean of MHC’s School of Business and Continuing Studies
• Crystal Metz, owner of Crystal Metz Insurance and Roots Refillery
• Tracy Stroud, Regional Innovation Coordinator at Community Futures Entre-Corp