Winner of the annual ‘Biz Pitch’ competition announced

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Nine entrepreneurs presented their ideas to a panel of judges for this year’s Southwest Louisiana business pitch contest.

From college students to retired folks — Southwest Louisiana natives of all ages brought their best ideas to the table in celebration of the Business Incubator’s National Small Business Week.

Among the contestants was Carl Corman, who presented his idea of a pedicab advertising business that would travel the streets of downtown Lake Charles called Peddlers.

“So we can expand this petty cart into a pedicab business and actually tote people around, so when we get all this tourism business coming downtown, we can keep up with the economic growth there,” said Corman.

Each contestant was given just 5 minutes to fully pitch their business idea and grab the judges’ attention.

There was also Elisabeth Perez, a teacher who wrote a curriculum book on “Louisiana English” to help non-native speakers learn the Louisiana dialect.

“A lot of times students are taught standard American English, and then they get to Louisiana and they’ve never heard someone say ‘y’all’ before, or they don’t understand while they ‘make groceries,’ instead of buy groceries or what does it mean if someone says come see but there is actually nothing to see,” Perez said.

Benoit Johnson introduced his microgreen business– 3rd Day Farms– to the panel.

“At this stage in life, microgreens are from 4 to 40 times more nutritious than the vegetables they’ll produce later,” Benoit said.

Another pitch came from Jessica Broussard who currently owns the company Paint and Fire.

“What I do is a custom pottery business. The judges have a few pieces in front of them but what I do is I’m an art educator at trade,” said Broussard.

Once the presentations were finished– it was time to announce the winners.

After wowing the judges with his plan — Benoit Johnson was awarded 1st place– along with 5,000 dollars to invest in 3rd Day Farms.

Second place, along with 3,000 dollars, was awarded to Carl Corman — with his company Peddlers.

And finally, in 3rd place was Jessica Broussard, who hopes to continue to share her love for art with all of Southwest Louisiana.

Now that the competition is over– the Business Incubator of Southwest Louisiana will continue to help each of these businesses grow their presence in our area.

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