ABERDEEN, S.D.(Press Release) The 2022 BIG Idea Competition marked a milestone with new opportunities for high school students. A total of 277 entries were received involving over 357 students from 54 schools. For the first time in competition history, a separate virtual competition was held for finalists outside of South Dakota. These were judged by a separate judging panel and separate prizes awarded. The 2022 event wrapped up Wednesday, December 7, at Northern State University (NSU) with the in-state judging taking place followed by the Awards Ceremony were winners from both competitions were announced along with four special category awards. Nearly $50,000 in cash and scholarships were awarded. The livestream link for the event can be found on the BIG Idea Facebook page (@BIGIdeaSD).
2022 SOUTH DAKOTA FINALISTS
| Place | Business Name | Team Members | School Name | Advisor |
| 1st | Feldy’s Ice Cream | Noah Felderman | Doland High School | Bailey Coats |
| 2nd | Free Bird RC | Pack Forster | Homeschool (Howard) | Independent Study |
| 3rd | Punch Out | Cole Bisbee | Groton High School | Adam Franken |
| Other Finalists | VaCay Check-In | Emily Tuschen | McCook Central High School |
Stephanie Kelley |
| Native Cleaners | Chayse Shoemaker | Webster High School | Kaylan Pool | |
| Sleek Steel Buildings LLC |
Garrett Crawford | Aberdeen Roncalli High School |
Donna Herrick | |
| Countryside Living | Kamryn Anderson, Kendyl Anderson, Kiah Koch | Warner High School | Pam Lane | |
| 2 Doors | Alyx Hoffman | Leola High School | Trevor Van Tilburg |
2022 OUT-OF-STATE FINALISTS
| Place | Business Name | Team Members | School Name | Advisor |
| 1st | MatheX | Stefan Neuber | Windsor High School (CA) | Independent Study |
| 2nd | KindKibble | Samuel Fan, Steven Xu |
Valley Christian High School (CA) |
Independent Study |
| 3rd | CulturalMunch | Arush Sharma, Tanush Garg |
Ashland High School (MA) | Independent Study |
| Other Finalists | Opportunities for Girls | Thrisha Gogineni | Dwight Global School (NY) |
Independent Study |
| Freshly Filtered | Gesaria Motwani | Homeschool (FL) | Independent Study | |
| The Admont Library | Kimberley Dunn | Homeschool (GA) | Independent Study | |
| SCHOOLPOOL APP | Aishani Bal | Denmark High School (GA) |
Independent Study | |
| Suwanee Distributions | Puraav Karnavat | Lambert High School (GA) | Independent Study |
BIG IDEA MARKETING DESIGN WINNER
Sponsored by McQuillen Creative Group
| Business Name | Team Members | School Name | School Advisor |
| Freeze Dried Fun | Beau Price | Aberdeen Roncalli High School | Donna Herrick |
BIG IDEA WELLNESS WINNER
Sponsored by Sanford Health
| Business Name | Team Members | School Name | School Advisor |
| Countryside Living | Kamryn Anderson, Kendyl Anderson, Kiah Koch | Warner High School | Pam Lane |
BIG IDEA AGRICULTURE INNOVATION WINNER
Sponsored by South Dakota Agriculture Foundation
| Business Name | Team Members | School Name | School Advisor |
| Punch Out | Cole Bisbee | Groton High School | Adam Franken |
BIG IDEA HOMETOWN BUSINESS WINNER
Sponsored by South Dakota Retailers Association
| Business Name | Team Members | School Name | School Advisor |
| Staging and Designing Success | Blaize Larson | Webster High School | Kaylan Pool |
Noah Felderman of Doland High School took first place with Feldy’s Ice Cream, a mobile ice cream shop in a converted school bus serving South Dakota State University (SDSU) ice cream and other fun summer treats! Feldy’s Ice Cream has been operation for a couple years now. His prize includes $1,000 cash prize, a $2,500 scholarship to NSU, a $2,000 scholarship to Presentation College and a $2,500 scholarship to the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
Second place went to Free Bird RC, by Pack Forster from Howard. Free Bird RC utilizes 3D printing technology to provide printing and rapid prototyping services to remote control (RC) vehicle hobbyists and businesses alike. Second place prizes include $500 cash, $2,000 NSU scholarship, $1,000 Presentation College scholarship, and $1,000 South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
Third place was awarded to Punch Out, by Cole Bisbee of Groton High School. Punch Out Tool Company, designed Punch Out, a spring-loaded, hand-held punch specifically designed for working on haybines. The Punch Out is best suited for punching out broken sickle teeth on haybines, where it is hard to fit a hammer. It can be used around the farm and at home too. Third place prizes include $250 cash, $1,500 NSU scholarship, $1,000 Presentation College scholarship and $1,000 South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Punch Out also won the Agriculture Innovation Category award with a $500 cash prize and $500 scholarship from NSU. This year, 33 entries were judged in the Agriculture Innovation category, sponsored by the South Dakota Agriculture Foundation.
The 5 remaining finalists will be receiving $100 cash and $1,000 scholarships to Presentation College, Northern State University, and the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. The other finalists included VaCay Check-In by Emily Tuschen from McCook Central High School, Native Cleaners by Chayse Shoemaker from Webster High School, Sleek Steel Buildings LLC by Garrett Crawford from Aberdeen Roncalli High School, Countryside Living by Kamryn Anderson, Kendyl Anderson, and Kiah Koch from Warner High School, and 2 Doors by Alyx Hoffman from Leola High School.
Freeze Dried Fun, by Beau Price of Aberdeen Roncalli High School, won the Marketing Design portion of the competition. The Marketing Design competition is an option for students to create an ad for their business idea. The award is sponsored by McQuillen Creative Group which donates $500 cash and Northern State University donates a $500 scholarship as well. This year, 176 entries were judged in this category.
Countryside Living, by finalists Kamryn Anderson, Kendyl Anderson and Kiah Koch from Warner, also won the Wellness Category award with a $500 cash prize and $500 scholarship from NSU. This year’s Wellness Category, sponsored by Sanford Health, had a total of 50 qualifying entries.
Staging and Designing Success by Blaize Larson from Webster High School won our newest special category, Hometown Business. The award is sponsored by the South Dakota Retailers Association which donates $500 cash and Northern State University donates a $500 scholarship as well. This year, 120 entries were judged in this category.
As mentioned, this was the first time we’ve held a separate virtual competition for finalists outside of South Dakota. Taking first place in this competition was Stefan Neuber from Windsor High School in California with his idea MatheX. In second we had Samuel Fan and Steven Xu from Valley Christian High School in California with their idea KindKibble. CulturalMunch by Arush Sharma and Tanush Garg from Ashland High School in Massachusetts took 3rd place.
During the Awards Ceremony, students also heard from three business owners in the area: Dave Vilhauer, SD SportScene; Brianna Kulser, Kusler Klinics; and Cam Schock, Climate Control.
The Partners in Business Award is sponsored by Angelhaus to reward the networking and mentorship experiences teachers have incorporated into their classroom. This year’s recipients of the Partners in Business award are Donna Herrick at Aberdeen Roncalli High School, Kaylan Pool at Webster High School and Brandt Munsen at Aberdeen Central High School.