Schools
PC Student Wows Judges at Entrepreneur Competition
Shark Tank style: Andrew Gomez gets props from business leaders with a polished pitch and product.
When Port Chester high school senior Andrew Gomez figured out how to market a line of health-conscious munchies for a class project, a national organization took notice.
His goal for Smart Treats, a tasty brand of vitamin-rich cereal bars, is a simple one: to provide a low-calorie snack alternative to Cheez Doodles or ice cream.
And after constructing the basic points in a Port Chester High School economics class this past February, the high schooler's creativity earned him a chance to fine-tune his product in a three-month program with professionals from Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Fairchester.
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Those weeks of hard work paid off big-time June 1 when Gomez earned a first place win at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Challenge—an impressive feat considering he was up against 43 students from eight other Westchester high schools and community organizations.
“It’s a great alternative to chips and cookies, having something enjoyable to eat and not feeling guilty about it,” he said.
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Childhood obesity has also continued to spike across the country, so it's no surprise why Smart Treats could be a hit in convenience stores across America.
So how did Gomez win over a panel of judges made up of business leaders and entrepreneurs?
According to local businessman Mike Weinstein, the Port Chester student's strong set of business-savvy skills may have had something to do with it.
“Andrew stood out because of his combination of excellent presentation skills and passion for the product,” said the chairman for INOV8 Beverage Co.
Gomez was also given $1,500 of seed money as a prize to start funding his idea, plus an invite to compete in the NFTE National Challenge in New York City this October.
Plus, the hard work is mostly done, so Gomez can now concentrate on ironing out some of the smaller details of his product to win him the coveted $10,000 prize this fall.
“I’ll be continuing to change little things here and there and making it much more scale-able,” added Gomez.
Competitions like this one will also make preparation for pitching products to retailers later on.
“At the end of the day, you’re still just convincing someone you have a good idea,” he said.
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