For 157 student businesspeople at St. Thomas, the Fowler Business Concept Challenge is more than a learning opportunity. It’s a chance to win $10,000.

The competition, hosted by the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, rewards three winning teams that receive up to $10,000 toward their projects. Runners-up receive smaller awards.

Associate Dean of Entrepreneurship Brian Abraham thinks students are drawn to the competition for the experience.

“Numbers are on the rise, so we’re happy about that,” Abraham said. “We’ve noticed that the quality of submissions has improved quite a bit, and that’s probably related to the academic offerings we have.”

In the first round of competition, students submit their ideas in a five-page paper. Semifinalists, who are chosen after the first round of submissions, pitch their ideas to a live panel of judges who choose which students advance. After finalists present in the last round of competition, the winners are finally selected in three different categories — undergraduate, graduate and social venture.

The Fowler competition’s official website says ideas must be original and submission essays must cover the target market. Other requirements include a market opportunity, proposed solution and business model, and a limit of one pitch idea per student in the semi-final and final round.

Sophomore Rose Whitney-Eliason submitted an idea to the Fowler competition for the first time this year. Her idea, a worm composting service company, came from her family’s active participation in composting.

“My family has always been forward with composting, so I know that it works well. I was like, this should be on a larger scale — it would eliminate so much waste,” Whitney-Eliason said. “It’s just a super simple solution to a big problem.”

The Fowler competition gives St. Thomas students of all disciplines, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, the opportunity of experiencing the creation of fresh ideas and pitching them as they might do in the workplace after graduation.

For Whitney-Eliason, that type of experience she is getting from participating in the competition is her biggest takeaway.

“It gives you an opportunity to present and practice these ideas … It’s confidence-building and experience-building,” Whitney-Eliason said. “You don’t really come across an opportunity like that every day where such distinguished judges are listening to your idea and actually critiquing you.”

Last year, the winning pitch of the undergraduate division was an idea for a cultural food company called EasyEatz. What Abraham said stood out with this idea was its connection to the customers.

“They understood the customers. The audience understood,” Abraham said. “It was easy to see how they could immediately move forward and sell products.”

This year, along with the originality that the competition always encourages, Abraham hopes to see diversity and passion in the participating students and their ideas.

“We’re looking for diversity across the student body,” Abraham said. “We’re looking for not just products but services, and we’re really interested in just seeing the students’ pursuit of passion.”

Kassie Vivant can be reached at viva0001@stthomas.edu.