The Charles H. Diller Jr. Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation hosted Ship Tank on April 9, in Stewart Hall. 

Ship Tank provides Shippensburg University students the chance to explore their entrepreneurial interests in an environment where they can learn, grow and potentially earn some cash. 

The contestants pitch their ideas to a panel of “sharks,” who range from Shippensburg University faculty, community entrepreneurs, alumni and their peers in the audience. 

The idea of Ship Tank is based on the popular Emmy award-winning TV show, “Shark Tank.” This year, eight ideas were pitched to the judges, and five lucky students took home prizes. 

The first-place winner was Karim Brice with Rally Sports Nutrition, an intra-activity fuel source designed specifically for NCAA athletes. Its recipe aims to re-energize athletes during games, long practices and strength training. Brice earned a cash prize of $1,500.

The second-place winner was Selena Velazquez of SV Events, an event-planning and decorating business focused on creating visually engaging, memorable experiences for celebrations and special occasions. The second-place prize was $750. Velazquez also won the $300 Crowd Favorite prize, which was voted on by the audience. 

The third-place winner was Dominic Vizza with Operra, an industry-specific software designed to automate operations and simplify business management for small business owners. Vizza earned $500 in prize money. 

The fourth-place winner was Benjamin Perrin with Sh!ne, an affordable and accessible men’s health and skincare company. Perrin won $150. 

The fifth-place winners were Carolina Rodriguez-Sanchez and I’zaa Reyes-Vega with Carizmafit, a hybrid fitness and lifestyle studio that will be launched in Vigo, Spain. The duo won $50 for the final cash prize. 

The other pitches were PetCollar+ by Alec Caccavo; IronTrack by Kendrell Robinson and Jontae Morris; and Savvy Cart by Wyatt Amspacher and Trent Ferry. 

PetCollar+’s product is an advanced smart collar to monitor your pet’s health, track their location and analyze behavioral patterns to give owners real-time insights into your pet’s lifestyle. 

Iron Track’s product is a smart barbell collar system designed to automatically detect the weight of the plates loaded on the barbell and track workouts in real time. 

Savvy Cart is a shopping aggregator that does on-demand delivery by taking a shopping list and making it cheaper and healthier. 

Each contestant was given five minutes to pitch their idea, and then the judges had five minutes to ask questions. 

The judges of this year’s Ship Tank, or “sharks,” were Gregory Welker, Leora Appleby and Betsy Shaver.  

Welker, a Shippensburg alumnus, is the economic development director of the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation. He leads strategies for business expansion, retention, attraction, redevelopment, workforce initiatives and public funding in Cumberland County. 

Appleby is the director of the Business One-Stop Shop at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. She is also a Shippensburg alumnus and a previous Ship Tank judge.

Shaver is a business consultant at the Shippensburg Small Business Development Center. She has founded multiple companies and currently co-owns a consulting firm that has conducted and presented on several large-scale studies. 

All in all, the event proved to be a learning experience for everyone involved. It exemplified that the first step to success is being brave enough to share your passions. 

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