Top 12 Finalists in the COSE Business Pitch Competition Announced!

-Competition Will Award $40,000 in Prize Money-

CLEVELAND, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) has announced the top 12 finalists in their second annual Business Pitch Competition.  The Competition is similar to the concept of the popular ABC reality TV show, Shark Tank.  Eventually, the top four business ideas will split $40,000 in prize money.   

The top 12 finalists will now be part of a "Pitch Day" event where they will they will make their pitch to a panel of judges, with the top four people moving on to the final judging phase.  

The final phase of the Competition will feature Priceline.com founder and CEO Jeff Hoffman as one of the judges.  It will be held on Thursday, October 18 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square in Downtown Cleveland.

The interest in the Competition has been outstanding as more than 80 people submitted an entry, which consisted of a two-page executive summary of their business idea and a two-minute video.

Here is the list of the top 12 finalists:

Ron Balog                                                      Bryant Hardy
ODIS                                                               CollegeSkinny, LLC

Maria Barile                                                   Scott Himmel
Nail Creations, Appealing While Healing™          Lunch Owl

Joanne Baron                                                 Andrew Spriegel
JAZD-CAP, The Right Light                               ANOVA INNOVATIONS, LLC – STUK STIK

Sam Bigham                                                   Mike Stanek
TidyCup                                                            Cleveland Cycle Tours           

Derrick Cruzado                                              Kevin Suttman
CorrecX                                                            Micro-Distillery Flavor Infusions

Thomas Fox                                                    Niki Zmij
Bad Racket                                                      Amplified Wind Solutions

For more information on the Competition, go to www.cose.org/pitch.  If you have questions, please contact Megan Kim at (216) 592-2356.

About COSE
COSE is one of Ohio's largest small business support organizations, striving to help small businesses grow and maintain their independence. Comprised of more than 14,000 member companies, COSE has a long history of fighting for the rights of all small business owners through group purchasing programs for health care, workers' compensation, or energy, advocating for specific changes in legislation or regulation to benefit small business, or providing a forum and resource for small businesses to connect with and learn from each other. (www.cose.org)

SOURCE Council of Smaller Enterprises

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