SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Over 140 students from across Cochise County pitched their ideas for new small businesses at the Big Idea Blitz. The competition was hosted by the City of Sierra Vista and Sky Island Regional Partnership.
Organizers for the Big Idea Blitz say getting people to think about entrepreneurship at a young age will only help local communities grow.
"They really keep the community running. They're the lifeblood of that. So we recognize that our small businesses are a vital part of our economic capacity, and we just really want to boost that concept for our young people," Dianna Cameron, senior tourism and economic development program manager for the City of Sierra Vista, said. “We really wanted to work on building the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Cochise County, we rely heavily on our small businesses. We need them."We really wanted to work on building the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Cochise County. We rely heavily on our small businesses. We need them.”
Jose Garcia, a junior at Buena High School, finished in second place last year. He returned to the competition with experience on his side.
"You got to stand out from everyone else. You really have to bring energy. You really have to, you know, make people like you, make people interested in what you're talking about, because you can have the best information on there, but just the best information isn't enough. When it comes to a pitch," Garcia said.
Garcia's marketing teacher, Bill Conroy, brought roughly 67 of his marketing students from Buena High School to the pitch competition.
"It's probably one of the most important things they can do as high schoolers, finding these opportunities where they talk to actual adults and they practice things that they learn in the classroom really helps solidify kind of the theory of the classroom into a real-world practice," Conroy said.
Some of the pitches included out-of-the-box ideas, surprising some of the judges.
"Some of them have some really interesting technological creativity and inventions that they pitch. So it's really neat to hear their ideas and just kind of see the potential for the next generation," Cameron said.
The winners get a cash prize for themselves and their teacher. This year, (INSERT NAME) took the top spot.
“We really wanted to show that to students as an option for their future," Cameron said. "You know, so often they're told college or join the military, we wanted to give them a different option, because we know that business owners are going to retire, businesses are going to close, and we need that next generation of entrepreneurs to step up and fill those gaps in our community.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
