Before UF and Florida State University’s football teams went head-to-head Saturday, students from both schools challenged each other to a business competition.
The inaugural Turkey Tank Competition on Nov. 22 had students from UF and FSU compete for $100 by giving a 3 minute pitch about an entrepreneurial project without using technology.
The competition was hosted by the UF Warrington College of Business.
The winner was Hannah King, an FSU international affairs junior. King said she felt amazing beating the competition.
King’s idea was a community development center, called Rise to Read, which would empower people, promote sustainability and work to increase literacy in Léogâne, Haiti.
The Rise to Read project would include community service, a library pantry, and a tutoring system, she said.
“Ultimately, we’re just trying to revitalize the way that non-profit organizations work,” the 20-year-old said. “We want them to be locally led in Haiti so the community’s needs can be understood by the people living in it.”
Parker Van Hart, the director of UF’s entrepreneurship master’s program, said he came up with the idea for the competition with a director from FSU, Wendy Plant.
Although he was sad FSU beat UF the first year of the competition, Van Hart said it was all in good fun.
“Next year, we’re going to go back and steal it from them.”
