live from THE LAUNCHBOX!With great honor, we invite the top teams in our competition to our business plan presentation challenge - hosted at Penn State's Happy Valley LaunchBox. Is your business plan ready?
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123 S Burrowes St. 6th Floor
State College, PA 16801 |
$1,000 GRAND PRIZE
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The top team selected in our rounds of judging will receive a $1,000 grand prize (in the form of an Amazon gift card). Our Shark-Tank-like competitions allow the best student teams from school districts to present their business ideas to a panel of local judges for awesome prizes.
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PREVIOUS EVENT - THE EXPERTS
A variety of renown business professionals will be in attendance
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Samuel R. Ryder
Vice President 
First National Bank
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Alan Dakey
President 
Brighter Financial Futures
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Angela (Huanying) Song
Founder 
Marthvela
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Elizabeth Hay
Jack White Family Director 
Happy Valley LaunchBox
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Stephanie Bowles
Founder and CEO 
PathQuester
Tina L Kennemuth
SVP, Team Leader Commercial Banking 
First National Bank
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Peter C Stockett
CFP 
18th Street Financial Services, LLP
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Bios
ELizabeth Hay
Elizabeth has more than 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur and consulting with small business owners. Her expertise includes business strategy, disaster recovery, scaling and de-risking growth companies, employee management, insurance compliance, accounting and bookkeeping, government contracting, bid and proposal writing, safety management and overall business management.
Elizabeth has worked with multiple SBIR awards and has training in DCAA contract accounting. Elizabeth has experience with woman owned and veteran owned business certifications, compliance, and bidding under those designations.
Elizabeth is the President of WiNGs, a State College based women entrepreneurs networking group, she teaches yoga in the State College area, and balances her SBDC career, owning a small business, and raising her 6 children with the help of her husband and co-owner of TechKnowServ Corp, Thomas Hay.
Elizabeth has worked with multiple SBIR awards and has training in DCAA contract accounting. Elizabeth has experience with woman owned and veteran owned business certifications, compliance, and bidding under those designations.
Elizabeth is the President of WiNGs, a State College based women entrepreneurs networking group, she teaches yoga in the State College area, and balances her SBDC career, owning a small business, and raising her 6 children with the help of her husband and co-owner of TechKnowServ Corp, Thomas Hay.
Peter C Stockett
Peter C. Stockett, CFP® is an experienced financial professional and Independent Certified Financial Planner® with over two decades of service helping individuals prepare for retirement and build secure, income-generating investment strategies. Through his work at 18th Street Financial Services, LLP, he focuses on guiding clients toward long-term financial stability with personalized planning and disciplined investment approaches. With a career spanning leadership roles in banking, investment services, and financial planning—including positions at Sun Bank/Sun Bancorp and Sun Investment Services—Peter brings deep expertise in securities, annuities, and comprehensive financial planning. His broad background, combined with his Certified Financial Planner® designation, reflects a lifelong commitment to helping clients make informed, confident financial decisions.
Samuel Ryder
Sam is a Vice President and Business Banker with First National Bank. In this role, Sam manages a portfolio of existing client relationships and works to develop new business opportunities throughout the Susquehanna Valley.
Prior to joining First National Bank, Sam spent 17 years with Fulton Financial Corporation working in Consumer Banking and Small Business Lending. Sam is a 1996 graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned a degree in Business Management. He went on to complete his MBA at Pennsylvania State University in 2009. Sam is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Lancaster and 2013 graduate of Leadership Susquehanna Valley. He is active in the community serving as a teacher, volunteer and elder at his church, as the treasurer of the board of directors for Susquehanna Valley CASA – Voices for Children. He is also an adjunct professor and a member of the business advisory committee at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. Sam is passionate about financial literacy and serves as a volunteer for Pennsylvania Council on Financial Literacy and as a facilitator of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.
Prior to joining First National Bank, Sam spent 17 years with Fulton Financial Corporation working in Consumer Banking and Small Business Lending. Sam is a 1996 graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned a degree in Business Management. He went on to complete his MBA at Pennsylvania State University in 2009. Sam is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Lancaster and 2013 graduate of Leadership Susquehanna Valley. He is active in the community serving as a teacher, volunteer and elder at his church, as the treasurer of the board of directors for Susquehanna Valley CASA – Voices for Children. He is also an adjunct professor and a member of the business advisory committee at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. Sam is passionate about financial literacy and serves as a volunteer for Pennsylvania Council on Financial Literacy and as a facilitator of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.
Alan Dakey
Alan Dakey has greatly enjoyed his career as a community banker which began with a summer banking job at The Dime Bank in Honesdale and has included 20-plus years as a CEO of three Pennsylvania-based community banks including Mid Penn Bank and Peoples Neighborhood Bank in Hallstead PA. Mr. Dakey most recently served as President and CEO of the Bank of Bird-In-Hand, a de-novo bank located in Lancaster County, PA.
He currently serves as President of Brighter Financial Futures, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide K-12 students with economics, personal finance, and entrepreneurship skills that elevate their standard of living, quality of life, and professional success.
Alan has been active in community activities, having served as a School Board Director of the Millersburg Area School District, a Director of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, and a former member of the Boards of the Honesdale, Harrisburg Area, and Scranton Area YMCAs.
He currently serves as an Advisory Board member for the Bloomsburg University- Ziegler College of Business and as a Co-chair of the Pennsylvanian Bankers Association Retired Bankers Program. He has been active in a number of nonprofit organizations, including The United Way, Countryside Conservancy and various chambers of commerce and economic development organizations.
Alan holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Scranton, a BS in Accounting from Bloomsburg University and is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Pennsylvania Bankers School of Banking.
He currently serves as President of Brighter Financial Futures, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide K-12 students with economics, personal finance, and entrepreneurship skills that elevate their standard of living, quality of life, and professional success.
Alan has been active in community activities, having served as a School Board Director of the Millersburg Area School District, a Director of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, and a former member of the Boards of the Honesdale, Harrisburg Area, and Scranton Area YMCAs.
He currently serves as an Advisory Board member for the Bloomsburg University- Ziegler College of Business and as a Co-chair of the Pennsylvanian Bankers Association Retired Bankers Program. He has been active in a number of nonprofit organizations, including The United Way, Countryside Conservancy and various chambers of commerce and economic development organizations.
Alan holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Scranton, a BS in Accounting from Bloomsburg University and is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Pennsylvania Bankers School of Banking.
Angela (Huanying) Song
Angela (Huanying) Song is the founder of Mathvela, an AI-powered interactive narrative platform designed to help children build confidence and overcome math anxiety through story-driven learning. She is a second-year PhD student in Educational Psychology at Penn State University and was selected for the 2026 Invent Penn State Summer Founders Program with an equity-free grant. Before returning to graduate school, Angela founded and ran DNA Education for over a decade, building a story-based math curriculum that served 2,000+ families with approximately 80% retention. Her work at the intersection of AI and education and she has co-authored three research papers on learning analytics, AI literacy, and youth digital safety. Angela brings the dual perspective of a working entrepreneur and an educational researcher to every pitch she evaluates.
Stephanie Bowles
Stephanie Bowles is a Learning Scientist, entrepreneur, and Ph.D. candidate at Penn State University. She is the founder and CEO of PathQuester, an AI-assisted career exploration platform, and coordinator of Penn State’s Social Artificial Intelligence Lab. She is a three-time finalist in the Penn State Nittany AI Challenge for educational technology products. She also co-leads the global AI with Youth Initiative, designing AI and creativity workshops with international partners, and regularly delivers webinars and professional development sessions on AI literacy and educational applications of AI for youth, educators, and community organizations.
Tina L Kennemuth
Tina L. Kennemuth is a Senior Vice President and Commercial Banking Team Leader with First National Bank. In this role, Tina manages a team of bankers as well as a portfolio of existing client relationships, while also working to develop new business opportunities throughout the Central Mountain Region. Tina returns to First National Bank, after a short stint at Wells Fargo in Texas as a Senior Relationship Manager. She has also worked as a Commercial Lender at NexTier Bank, Clarion County Community Bank, and First Commonwealth Bank. In her career, she has managed middle market and corporate customers, some with credit needs over $100MM. Tina is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a BS in Geology. She completed her MBA at Clarion University. Through out her career she has served on many economic development groups including Jefferson County Development Council and North Central’s loan committee. She served on both for over 20 years. She has taken abuse counselor training and taught management classes at a local community
AGENDA
Welcome |
Business Pitch Presentations Closing Remarks: Team Dream-Learn-Pitch
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