On Saturday, April 30, the judges of the 2022 Zingale Big Idea Competition crowned 10 winners including Edible Roots, a social purpose venture seeking to create green spaces and community gardens in urban settings and Blue Ciel, an importer of Mongolian cashmere. This year’s winners shared a total prize pool of $32,000.
“This year’s pool of entrants could be the most interesting and diverse in the competition’s history,” said Chris Allison, Co-Director of Allegheny College’s Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & Economics. “And for the first time, we had more social venture ideas than for-profit enterprises,” he added.
Here is a list of the winners:
| Competitor | Big Idea | |
| First Place | ||
| Mariah Nablo | Edible Roots | Urban Green Space Developer |
| Binderiya Batsaikhan | Blue Ciel | Cashmere Importer |
| Second Place | ||
| Funda Eskalen | Conmigo | College Social Networking |
| Rutendo Mavunga | Batanai | Women’s Health In Zimbabwe |
| Third Place | ||
| Samone Brosier | O’Day’s Relief | Free Credit Counseling |
| Arigun Bayaraa | Campus Carpool | College Ridesharing |
| Dakchyata Thapa | Campus Carpool | College Ridesharing |
| Riley Sawyer | Campus Carpool | College Ridesharing |
| Alexander Lawson | Transamerica Partnership | Job Placement For Central Americans |
| Andrew Strobel | Transamerica Partnership | Job Placement For Central Americans |
| Lucia Jueguen | Transamerica Partnership | Job Placement For Central Americans |
| Meadville Community Track | ||
| Shannon Gilmore | Meadville Bed Bug Task Force | Bed Bug Remediation |
| Abigail Marshall | Meadville Bed Bug Task Force | Bed Bug Remediation |
| John Walton | Angel Animal Haven, Inc. | Pet Pantry & Shelter |
| Next Big Idea | ||
| Tergel Buyanbat | Food For Thought | Healthy Eating Awareness |
This year’s judges included:
- Lisa Frankovitch, CEO, Uplogix;
- John Golden, Associate Professor of Economics, Allegheny College;
- Andrew Gottlieb ’11, CEO, No Typical Moments;
- Liana Leja ’17, Clinical Research Coordinator, Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute;
- Rich McIntyre ’88, President, McIntyre, Thanasides, Bringgold, Elliott, Grimaldi, Guito & Matthews, P.A.;
- Clayton Morris ’15, Vice President of Development and Leasing, Sampson Morris Group;
- Byron Rich, Director of Academic Innovation Partnerships, Allegheny College;
- Rob Smith ’73, Executive Chairman, Acutec Precision Aerospace;
- Andy Walker ’00, Executive Director, Allegheny Office of Economic, Civic and Community Engagement;
- Christian D. Walker ’20, Social Media Marketing Manager, Bitski;
- Lance Zingale ’77, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Sykes Enterprises (retired).
The Zingale Big Idea Competition is a student-focused seed-funding business pitch presentation competition. It is designed for new business ideas, which have yet-to-receive funding. This contest emulates the experiences seen on the popular CNBC broadcast, Shark Tank, but with a heart.