Last month, Audrey Bader, a junior communication studies student, was one of 12 finalists in the virtual Innovative Idea Competition (IIC) hosted by Temple University Fox School of Business’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI). The IIC is an annual competition that, along with IEI’s other entrepreneurship competitions, allows students, alumni, faculty and staff from all of Temple’s schools and colleges to gain experience in business planning and pitching. Bader’s business idea Global Pantry impressed the initial review committee enough to advance to the finals and her communication skills ensured that her final presentation for the competition was clear and concise.

Although Bader’s major is in communication studies, she is also pursuing a minor in business. In one of her entrepreneurship classes, she received extra credit for submitting her idea, Global Pantry, to the IIC. Global Pantry is a meal subscription service that provides subscribers with cultural background about each meal they receive. Bader was convinced that the idea would do well because meal subscription services tend to be successful businesses, but as a lifelong appreciator of food and culture, she wanted to provide a meaningful twist that was not yet on the market.

This year, the IIC received more than 100 submissions from nine schools across the university. The finalist round was held on November 12 with a virtual audience in attendance and parts of a more than $5,000 cash prize package up for grabs. The finalist round required participants to prepare both a one-minute business pitch and an extended four-minute business pitch aimed at an expert panel of judges. Bader believes that the training she received from the IEI strengthened her pitches, while her background in communication studies helped her put her best foot forward during the competition.

“I think that being a Klein student has helped because I have done so many presentations for my other classes in Klein,” Bader says.

Greg Fegley, director of Accelerator Programs at IEI, was impressed throughout the competition with Bader’s growing confidence about her pitches. He has always appreciated ideas from students outside of Fox. And because of their advanced understanding of effective communication, Klein students are no exception.

“Audrey was a great example of students who come into this, maybe not really expecting to make it to the finals, but when they do, watching [them is] just a marvelous transformation from the before to the after,” Fegley says.

Although Bader was not the recipient of any of the IIC’s final awards, she believes the knowledge that her pitches and ideas were strong enough for consideration gave her the boost that she needed to continue submitting the idea to other business competitions.

“I wouldn’t say that Global Pantry is done at all: I would say that it’s just beginning,” she says. “And I don’t know what I’m going to do with it in the future — whether I want to create it into more of a real company — but I definitely think that there is opportunities here at Temple at least for me to enter into other competitions and see where I go and see how far I can take it.”

Fegley is looking forward to seeing more entries in the IIC from other interested students at Klein.

“I don’t think that the entrepreneurial spirit is limited to just business students,” he says. “There are students in all different areas of interest who’ve got great ideas for solving problems or for creating businesses and at the IEI, we really try to service and support all the 17 schools within the university and give students an opportunity to participate in those types of activities.”

Bader hopes that Klein students will take advantage of the opportunities available to them through IEI, and that they give their innovative ideas a shot at recognition and possibly being pursued. IEI hosts four annual competitions throughout the year and participants are eligible for prize packages and financial rewards. 

The next competition is the Changemaker Challenge, which is a part of IEI’s Social Entrepreneurship Series. The challenge accepts business proposals that incorporate a socially-conscious agenda. The Be Your Own Boss Bowl, IEI’s biggest competition, focuses on participants’ business plans; and the Lori Hermelin Bush Seed Fund is specifically targeted toward ideas that promote the advancement of women’s entrepreneurship. These competitions are accompanied by optional preparatory workshops for potential participants. The workshop series for the Changemaker Challenge is already underway, but anyone interested can still sign up to receive more information about the remaining workshops and competition.