Davis College
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Students from Fonda Holehouse’s Rural Enterprise Development course are honing their two-minute “elevator pitches” in preparation for the next round of the West Virginia Statewide Business Plan Competition. Eight teams from Holehouse’s course have made it to the semi-final round and will present their plan summaries and be interviewed by judges in Charleston on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Plans in the Lifestyle and Innovation category are:

• Bulls-I Breeding Technology, by Meg Grzeskiewicz, an animal and nutritional sciences student from Colden, NY

• Full Circle Compost, by Ruth Mary Oldham, an agricultural and resource economics student from Morgantown, W.Va.

• Bella Boots, LLC, by Jenna Mullins, an animal and nutritional sciences student from Romney, W.Va.

Plans in the Hospitality and Tourism category are:

• Home-style Meals at Snowshoe, by Katherine Anne Workman, an agribusiness management and rural development student from Marlinton, W.Va.

• Jane’s Backyard Gardens, by Alexa Talkington, an animal and nutritional sciences student from Alvy, W.Va.

• Pranzo Veloce, by Alex Holehouse, a business management student from Morgantown, and John Howard, an environmental and natural resource economics student from Cincinnati, OH

• Stone Creek Eggs & Broilers, by Krystal Ferrell, an animal and nutritional sciences student from Middlebourne, W.Va., and Bethany Sirk, an agribusiness management and rural development student from Moorefield, W.Va.

• Whistlin’ Dixie’s, by Brianna Heckert, an animal and nutritional sciences student from Fairmont, and Alexandra Bay, an animal and nutritional sciences student from Princeton, W.Va.

There are a total of 20 semi-finalists still in the competition, which is designed to provide students with the education, skills, contacts, and motivation necessary to create a viable start-up company in West Virginia. Grand prize packages consisting of $10,000 cash, accounting, legal, and virtual or physical incubator space are awarded to the top team in each category.