ALLIANCE, Ohio - April 4 marked the annual Raider Tank event held at the University of Mount Union. Raider Tank is an entrepreneurial pitch competition based off ABC’s hit show Shark Tank.

Like the show, students in teams or as individuals create an idea for a new product or service and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges in an attempt to take home money to use for their start-up.

The event, while primarily consisting of entrepreneurship majors, is open to students of all ages and majors.

This year, first place honors went to the team of Taryn Kocher ’19, a finance major of Wickliffe, Ohio, and Jordan Martin ’19, a marketing and management double major of Mentor, Ohio, for their idea the “Backyard Brand”, an all-inclusive box of outdoor games for children.

Second place went to Carter Mueller ’21, a sport business major of North Canton, Ohio, and Alex Artimez ’21, a management major from Canton, Ohio for their idea of a portable recording studio. The final cash prize of third place went to the team of Tyler Gorse ’20, a sport business major of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, and Greg Fronek Jr. ’20, a sport business major of Westminster, California, for their idea of a skullcap that adds an extra layer of protection for baseball pitchers.

To learn more about entrepreneurship at Mount Union, visit mountunion.edu/entrepreneurship.