April 10, 2025

Ferris State to host Bulldog Pitch Competition on April 11

Ferris State is hosting a Bulldog Pitch Competition welcoming high school students to campus — Ferris State University's College of Business is welcoming high school students to campus to compete in the Bulldog Pitch Competition top present innovative start-up ideas.

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. —

The Ferris State University College of Business is ready to welcome high school students developing and presenting their innovative start-up ideas on Friday, April 11, in a Bulldog Pitch Competition.

The visiting high school students will form teams of one to five participants. The finalists prep a 10-minute pitch and slide deck to present to a jury of entrepreneurs and faculty with prizes awarded to first-, second- and third-place teams.

“The Bulldog Pitch Competition offers Michigan high school students a chance to demonstrate their creativity and flex their entrepreneurial muscles as they learn about the lean start-up methodology and apply it to their business start-up ideas,” said David Brown, a professor of Management in Ferris State’s College of Business.

Participants presented their initial submissions in February, and finalists were notified in early March and invited to the April 11 event.

The Bulldog Pitch Competition follows BAMO (Business Administration, Management Operations) standards, including employing entrepreneurial discovery strategies to build feasible strategy for businesses to thrive, developing a concept for a new business, evaluating a new business for success, and determining appropriate resources needed for the start-up.

“One team is going to walk away from some seed money for their classroom, and a fantastic experience on the Big Rapids campus,” said Brown, the Risk Management and Insurance Program coordinator and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship advisor. “Perhaps some of these students will eventually study entrepreneurship as future Ferris State Bulldogs.”

Beyond the Bulldog Pitch Competition, participating high school students will have opportunities to experience on-campus activities while visiting Big Rapids.

For more information, visit https://www.ferris.edu/business/bulldog-pitch/.