Wilkes Univ.

Wilkes University senior Edward Powell recently took first place in the TecBridge Pitch Competition, where students from 10 regional colleges present entrepreneurial start-up ideas to a board of professionals.

Powell, a self-described “car nut” from Schnecksville, impressed the judges by “having a great idea and being very passionate.”

His start-up, Gear Head Garage, embodies his long love of cars and auto mechanics by providing the curious with an avenue to develop skills and knowledge of auto maintenance.

“It’s a do-it-yourself car garage where you can learn to work on a car while a mechanic supervises you,” Powell said. “It’s something that I’m very passionate about that has done so much for me, and I want to be able to share that with other people.”

Powell is an entrepreneurship and marketing double major with minors in leadership and women’s studies.

He attributes his win to skills attained from the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership.

“The hands-on and experiential-style learning we do teaches the basis of how to be a professional,” he said. “That can make you so much more successful.”

Powell also cites his out-of-class activities for giving him a real-world environment to hone his business skills.

One such activity is the Entrepreneurship Action Us (ENACTUS) team, which provides opportunities for students to make a difference through service and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise.

The team competes at national levels with shareholder-style presentations on their projects.

“It’s like having autonomy over a small portion of a business,” he said. “It’s a huge opportunity, and it’s cool to get that kind of experience.”

“As an entrepreneurship major, Edward has grown in his abilities and conceptualization skills,” Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship Morgan Clevenger said. “Edward’s passion and use of imagery aided in his ability to persuade the audience and judges.”

TecBridge is a regional collegial organization that collaboratively strives to create and embrace entrepreneurial opportunities with the purpose of growing technology and biotechnology wealth within northeastern Pennsylvania.