ABERDEEN, S.D.(Press Release)- Sixteen high school finalists have advanced to the 2023 BIG Idea Final Competition. This high school business idea competition encourages students to consider new ideas and opportunities for creating a business in their own region. All students who submitted entries are invited to the Final Competition and Awards Ceremony held December 5-6, 2023. The day will feature student pitches, educational booths, & campus tours.  The keynote speaker is John Meyer of Leadership South Dakota with the awards to follow.

Due to the large amount of entries from schools outside of South Dakota, where BIG Idea has operated since 2007, the BIG Idea Competition going forward will continue to offer two competitions. We will be including an out-of-state (virtual) competition alongside the existing in-person event held at Northern State University. In-state and out-of-state finalists will be judged in two separate competitions, with prizes awarded separately to each competition. The
out-of-state finalists will be judged virtually on Tuesday, December 5th, and the in-state finalists will compete in-person on Wednesday, December 6th, at Northern State University.

There were 365 applications submitted from 76 different schools. First round judges include 139 volunteers along with 240 college entrepreneurship and business students. During the BIG Idea Final Competition, finalists will have six minutes to present their idea to a panel of judges and compete for nearly $50,000 in cash prizes and scholarships. Our in-state finalists are:

2023 BIG Idea Finalists
Business Name- Team Members-  School Name-  School Advisor
Bender’s Sports –  Kasen Bender –  Watertown High School – Tom Lennox
Conservation Covers – Kiara Tulowetzke – Watertown High School – Tom Lennox
Clean Car Detailing Co – Augustus Sieh – Leola High School – Trevor Van Tilburg
Paw’s Who Care – Morgan Haselhorst, Brooklyn Bossly, Jersey Deibert-McPartland -Warner High School – Pam Lane
Stoltenberg Tailgate Seating – Dallas Stoltenberg – Northwestern High School – Anne Frericks
Swing and a Miss – Carter Simon – Groton High School – Eric Swenson
SoDak Feeds – Jaidryn Rice – Webster High School – Kaylan Pool
Your Acai* – Emersen Mead – Dakota Valley High School Justine Sponder
Two Heart Arena* – Kali Young – Dupree High School – Mark Peacock
*Finalist could not make it to final event

In addition, 212 Marketing Designs were submitted along with 77 Wellness Category entries, 24 Agriculture Innovation Category entries, and 120 Hometown Business Category entries, and 49 Makers Category entries, a new specialty category in 2023. All category winners, below, will be recognized at the Final Competition. A full list of finalists, category winners and honorable mention entries can be found at www.bigideasd.com.

BIG IDEA MARKETING DESIGN WINNER – Sponsored by McQuillen Creative Group
Business Name – Team Members – School Name – School Advisor
Your Acai – Emersen Mead – Dakota Valley High School – Justine Sponder

BIG IDEA WELLNESS WINNER – Sponsored by Sanford Health
Business Name – Team Members – School Name – School Advisor
MentalMetrics – Abigail Hsu – Newark Academy (NJ) – Independent Study

BIG IDEA AGRICULTURE INNOVATION WINNER – Sponsored by South Dakota Agriculture Foundation
Business Name – Team Members – School Name – School Advisor
Hello Ag – Bennett Gordon – Sturgis Brown High School – Independent Study

BIG IDEA HOMETOWN BUSINESS WINNER – Sponsored by South Dakota Retailers Association
Business Name – Team Members – School Name – School Advisor
C & C Spaw’s Pet Grooming – Corbin Tople, Cullen Pollard – Centerville High School – Shelli Eide

BIG IDEA MAKERS WINNER – Sponsored by Blackout Industries
Business Name – Team Members – School Name – School Advisor
ArrowX – Grant Schlueter – Tri-Valley High School – Tracy Vogt

Prizes includes cash awards ranging from $100 to $1,000 along with scholarships to Northern State University, and SD School of Mines & Technology. For more information about the competition, see www.BIGIdeaSD.com.

Students from the following high schools participated: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Roncalli, Centerville, Dakota Valley, Doland, Dupree, Eureka, Flandreau, Florence, Groton, Harrisburg, Hoven, Lennox, Leola, Madison, McCook, Northwestern, Pierre T.F. Riggs, Sturgis Brown, Tri-Valley, Vermillion, Warner, Watertown, Webster, West Central and Yankton High School. We also had 27 out-of-state schools participate.

The competition is coordinated by the Small Business Development Center and funded by Sanford Health, East River Electric, REED Fund, Dacotah Bank, First Bank & Trust, Angelhaus, Aberdeen Development Corporation, Northwestern Energy, McQuillen Creative Group, The Tom and Danielle Aman Foundation, Midcontinent Communications, GROW South Dakota, the South Dakota Agriculture Foundation, 3M, Missouri River Energy Services, Agtegra, South Dakota Retailers Association and Independent Health Solutions. Scholarships are provided by Northern State University, and South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. The competition is a result of the input and collaboration of these organizations along with:

Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce, Aberdeen Downtown Association, Aberdeen Catholic School System  Roncalli High School, and Aberdeen School District – Central High School.