The Hatch Provides Over $24 Thousand to Support Student Entrepreneurs

Each year, BGSU’s Schmidthorst College of Business has partnered with community members, entrepreneurs and alumni to support our students and provide opportunities to experience how to ideate, create, innovate and adapt through our hands-on, innovative program – The Hatch.

The Hatch, a semester long immersive program that takes student business ideas from concept to center stage was developed to engage BGSU students in creative and innovative problem solving for the public good by working to tackle some of the complex problems facing our communities and the world. Students work individually or in teams to explore their idea towards creating a positive impact.

This year, 13 students committed to developing their budding business ideas and worked to research, prototype and implement solutions with the support of mentors and University faculty to guide them along the way.  Of that group, seven of our student entrepreneurs or Hatchlings, were invited to take the stage in front of a live audience to pitch their ideas in the hopes of receiving financial support for their next steps in launching their business.

To view the full live show, visit The Hatch online.

Live presenters included:

Daylon Humphries

Daylon Humphries, of Columbus, Ohio, is a freshman in the Schmidthorst College of Business pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in individualized business. Daylon set his eyes on launching Prophetic Achievers, a nonprofit organization designed to keep teens and young adults out of trouble by providing resources, guidance and a safe space. After losing three friends to gun violence in high school he began passionately working to reduce gun violence, specifically in the black community.

Daylon currently operates a clothing brand that reminds youth to strive for their goals and believe in their dreams. He uses the proceeds from the brand to pursue his project, Prophetic Achievers.

After his pitch, Daylon was sent to incubation. Incubation is the next step in helping our student entrepreneurs flesh out their business ideas to build a viable, successful business model. Although Daylon wasn’t funded by the investor panel, one investor, George Heath, supported Prophetic Achievers with $1,000 donation for him to continue working through his idea. As George Heath stated at the event, “it’s important work” and Daylon’s passion for helping his community was extremely apparent.

Chelsea Lee

Chelsea Lee of Cleveland, Ohio is a junior majoring in public relations with a minor in marketing. She plans on pursuing a career in influencer marketing and content strategy.

Chelsea presented her idea, Just for Hue Beauty Hub, a vending machine filled with hard-to-find, minority haircare products, placed on college campuses to increase access and availability.

She is dedicated to lessening the challenges that minority students experience when purchasing beauty and self-care products in the Bowling Green community band beyond.

After her pitch, Chelsea was fully funded receiving $6,000 to purchase her vending machine, stock inventory, and implement testing to continue growing Just for Hue Beauty on campuses across the country.

Izzy Mraz

Izzy Mraz of Elyria, Ohio, is a sophomore in the Schmidthorst College of Business pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in marketing and a minor in advertising. Izzy is passionate about sports and currently serves in leadership positions with the BGSU Women’s Club Soccer Team and the International Football Club. Additionally, Izzy is a proud Thompson Family Scholar and made the Dean’s List last semester.

During her pitch for Iz's Yo Design she explained how her goal is to create artwork and statement pieces of iconic aspects within college towns across Ohio making the perfect gift for students, alumni and local community members. Izzy was fully funded by investors, providing her with $4,500 to take her business idea to new heights.

James Peet

James Peet of Bowling Green, Ohio, is a junior in the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering pursuing a bachelor’s in management and technology. As a non-traditional student returning to higher education after ten years of work and life experience, James brings a unique perspective and appreciation to recognizing and solving issues facing the local and global environment. His primary focus is on closing the loop between wasted groceries, depleted soil and methane production through better compost practices in Wood County, Ohio.

James pitched his industrial composting company, Black Gold, which will provide efficient ways to manage the natural decomposition of organic materials into beneficial and usable compost for soil amendment. Investors were impressed and fully funded Black Gold at $8,000 to help Peet dig into the next steps of his business venture.

Bethanie Ellen Poe and Ryan Schoenike

Bethanie Poe of West Chester, Ohio, and Ryan Schoenike of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later of Toledo, Ohio, are both sophomores in the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering, pursuing their bachelor’s in visual communication technology.

Bethanie currently works as a barista, is active in the university community and a proud member of BGSU’s Visual Communication Technology Organization (VCTO).   

Ryan is passionate about serving his community and last year began an internship at CedarCreek church. Ryan is a strong advocate for change and is always striving for improvement and growth. He also works with the BGSU Office of Nontraditional Military Student Services as a Peer Advisor for Veteran Education (PAVE) mentor, assisting staff in helping others discover and utilize campus resources as well as develop programs to best meet students’ needs.

Together Bethanie and Ryan created Swapz Jersey Co., introducing a line of interchangeable name tapes for sports jerseys that allow fans to swap out names and numbers when players are traded or retire, or when parents want to support their athletes with a #1 Fan jersey! The team wowed investors with their creativity and were fully funded, receiving $5,000 to continue their research and development.

Michael Posadny
Michael Posadny of Perrysburg, Ohio, is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in history and political science. He is a member of the Honors College and works at the BGSU Archives Center located in Levis Commons.

Michael values life-long learning and wants to help create more opportunities to educate through fun and interactive learning tools. He developed Falcon Learning Games and presented his idea for a unique board game designed to show players the steps a bill takes to becoming a law, promoting retention of the legislative process for students in the United States. Still in earlier stages of his design he was not funded during the event but hopes to continue growing his idea by looking at ways to expand into classrooms across the country and branching into other game development.

Our live event was concluded with the announcement of the coveted Eggy Award, a title that goes to the Hatchling who was voted fan-favorite by audience members and online viewers. The Eggy for live pitch was presented to Izzy Mraz.

The remaining Hatchlings were able to share their ideas, lessons learned and hopeful next steps for their innovations to in-person audience members during poster presentations.

These Hatchlings included:

Elisabeth Baende

Elisabeth Baende, of Perrysburg, Ohio, is a sophomore in the College of Education and Human Development pursuing a bachelor’s in human development and family studies with a minor in creative writing. Baende loves staying busy and is active in several student arts and honors organizations on campus. Elisabeth attends a Christian home fellowship and enjoys writing poetry, working on artwork digitally and by hand and producing new ideas.

Mindful Music is a program developed to help students retain educational information through song. By using popular songs already known by students, teachers and educators can utilize these tunes to help students retain lessons taking place in their own classroom.

Emma Crusey

Emma Crusey, of Richwood, Ohio, is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences pursuing a bachelor’s in computer science with a specialization in digital forensics and minors in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Emma has a passionate for the restaurant industry and works as a server in Marysville, Ohio, when not at Bowling Green, which inspired her business idea.

Crusey Clean, is a service that caters to small restaurants and specializes in professional cleaning of locations and restaurant equipment.

Steven Felton

Steven Felton of San Clemente, California is pursuing his graduate degree from the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering. Prior to BGSU, Steven achieved an associate degree in mathematics from Saddleback Community College and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in chemistry from California State University, Fullerton.

Steven has been actively involved with organized sports since 1980 and has served in various professional engineering and leadership roles within the aerospace and technology industries. Now nearing retirement Steven and his wife Della seek to establish 3RBay Clubs of America, a traveling non-profit organization that promotes social good, education and prevention of medical debt through participation in America’s pastime – baseball.

Parker Hydrick and Ryan Johnston

Parker Hydrick of Salem, Ohio is a current senior in the Schmidthorst College of Business majoring in finance. He is also a member of the BGSU Baseball team. Parker presented his pitch with business partner fellow teammate, Ryan Johnston ’22. Ryan of Oakville, Ontario (Canada) is currently a Master of Business Administration student in the Schmidthorst College of Business continuing his education after finishing his undergraduate degree in finance at BGSU last year.

The pair are developing a food selection app that considers how you’re currently feeling and produces a restaurant or recipe that will satisfy your hunger and provide food for your mood.

Jonah Rosenberg

Jonah Rosenberg of Las Vegas, Nevada, and later Cincinnati, Ohio, is a senior in the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering pursuing a bachelor’s in architecture and environmental design.

Jonah works as a design specialist with Organized Living. His work demonstrates an unbridled enthusiasm for creating unique, sustainable solutions which helped lead him to his 2023 Hatch idea, Whiled Jar.  Jonah is eager to bring his passion for sustainability to life and has developed a prototype for an alternative food storage container that extends product shelf life and is sustainable for both consumers and producers.