Michaela Gaffke / Winonan

Creative students with a business mindset are ready to think of new ideas to bring into the workplace. The WarriorsINNOVATE Challenge provides a great opportunity for these students to put their creativity to work. The challenge will connect students with the tools and resources to better their entrepreneurial skills in order to make their ideas a reality.

Phase one of the WarriorsINNOVATE will be Thursday, Oct. 27 in the Science Learning Center atrium from 6 to 8 p.m., including a Discovery Forum. All students are welcome, even if they do not have an idea.

Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director for Winona State University Foundation Ron Dempsey said how, the forum is a chance for students to come and learn about the challenge. There will be a lot of business people, entrepreneurs and alumni to help students and to talk to them about what it means to be an entrepreneur, and about their ideas.

John Kopydlowski, one of the presidents of the Entrepreneurship Club, said, “This will be a time for individuals to learn about the challenge, hear stories from entrepreneurs and network with potential teammates.”

Students can complete by themselves, or in a team of up to five.

We encourage teams to think about cross discipline, have a team member who is good at business, but also have someone with graphic design experience or engineering if needed, Dempsey said.

“The Entrepreneurship Club has been promoting the event through word of mouth, social media and a table set up in Kryzsko,” Kopydlowski said.

The challenge has three categories: business/product venture, social entrepreneurship and university innovation.

Promoting a business venture or product is the largest category, social entrepreneurism is wanting to solve a social problem, and university innovation is an idea to improve Winona State, according to Dempsey.

Phase two is the Ideation phase. Participants will be connected to the resources they need to begin building out their business plans in entrepreneurial boot camp.

Participants will write a summary of their ideas, which will be evaluated by a panel of experts and the proposals with highest potential will proceed to the next round.

Following this comes phase three, the Development phase. This is where participants are matched up with experts who will provide insights to help them to the final stages of their business plan development.

Phase four is the Challenge Finale. The teams will give an oral pitch of their projects to a panel of judges. Winners in each category will be awarded a share of $10,000 to pursue their project.

The money comes from the Winona State Foundation, donors and gifts, according to Dempsey.

“This challenge is not cut throat, nobody will be humiliated, but instead it will be positive, upbeat and encouraging,” Dempsey said.

The WarriorsINNOVATE Challenge is open to all students, not just business majors.

“In the end, this is an educational process. This is about education, about conveying to our students the concepts and the ideas of innovation and entrepreneurism. It would be great if cool things come out, great startups, but the whole point is to educate students on campus on innovation and entrepreneurism,” Dempsey said.

It is the first year for the challenge, but Dempsey thinks it will continue to grow throughout the years.

-By Michaela Gaffke