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‘Pitch in the Park’ promises opportunity for Clay entrepreneurs

Jesse Hollett
Posted 1/18/17

ORANGE PARK – When the idea for Clay County’s first entrepreneurial pitch event first surfaced, there was a shared headache between its creators whether there would be enough pitchers and enough …

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‘Pitch in the Park’ promises opportunity for Clay entrepreneurs


Posted

ORANGE PARK – When the idea for Clay County’s first entrepreneurial pitch event first surfaced, there was a shared headache between its creators whether there would be enough pitchers and enough community support behind them.

Now, with the event just days away, they’re anxious too many entrepreneurs might show.

The ‘Pitch in the Park,’ festival for innovators and budding business owners kicks off at Town Hall Jan. 21. Created by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, the event marks the culmination of years of planning between Bob Hawkinson, co-owner of TLC Total Lawn Care, Brian Knight, head of the software company Pragmatic Works and Bill Garrison, president of the Clay County Development Corp.

“The most exciting part of the event, honestly, is the fact that it’s happening,” Garrison said. “The fact that we’ve brought a group of entrepreneurs and business owners together who want to tell the story of entrepreneurship in Clay County is just incredible.”

Pitchers will have two minutes to present their idea to the audience and a panel of judges. Each of the inventors will fight for the $1,250 first prize and exposure for their idea. However, each inventor, whether they win or lose, will have the ability to connect with potential business partners.

“The folks that are going to be pitching, even if they don't win, it’s going to be an absolutely amazing education opportunity just to stand up there and describe your product in short concise terms,” Hawkinson said.

Innovators have two minutes to pitch their idea.

The judges and audience then spend two minutes asking questions about the idea. The festival will host 18 of the 24 entrepreneurs who applied.

The audience holds 40 percent of the judging opportunities. Audience members get three chips they can use three times to vote for the ideas they like the most. Officials will use a ballot box voting system. The rest of the judging opportunities go to the judges themselves.

Food trucks and live music will populate the festival as well.

Pitch in the Park doubles as a pseudo-networking event to jumpstart the ideas of innovators even further.

“It’s funny, we have one of the widest varieties I would have ever expected,” Knight said. “From a new kind of fishing mechanism to tech ideas to people who are trying to raise money to bring back the Green Cove Springs Clay Theatre, so we’ve got a mixture of all kinds.”

Judges are experts in their fields, ranging anywhere from patent attorney, to serial entrepreneur, to entrepreneurial community leaders, such as Kate Stewart, co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Jacksonville Center for Entrepreneurship.

Innovators will also receive the opportunity for mentorships from successful entrepreneurs as prize rewards.

“You have got to be able to talk about your products succinctly and quickly forever,” Hawkinson said. “You need to know your product in its truest forms.”

Innovators and entrepreneurs will never stop pitching their ideas if they’re exposing themselves to the public eye enough.

“You never really stop pitching,” Hawkinson said.

For example, Hawkinson won the Most Innovative Business award during New York’s 2015 ‘Think Beyond Plastic’ event for his idea on a biodegradable mulch bag. Think Beyond Plastic is a global business and innovation accelerator with a focus on lowering plastic pollution worldwide.

In 2016, the event received 145 applications from 35 countries.

If Pitch in the Park receives enough attention in its inaugural year, the group hopes to continue the festival to create an annual experience for Clay County.

“We we want this to be a yearly festival,” Knight said. “The goal this year is to plant the seed in the community.”