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Topher Hatton, a UA pre-business junior, discusses his online business idea during Pitch McGuire.
Photo by Sarah Mauet.

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Entrepreneurial Experience : Students, Community Members Share Business Ideas at Pitch McGuire

October 2012

By Alexis Blue
University Communications

Chris Woyewodzic approached the front of the room tentatively. “I didn’t think I’d be this nervous,” he said as he prepared to present his business idea to a panel of experts.

Moments later, Woyewodzic received his first piece of advice from the professionals: “Never admit to being nervous, because we never would have known.”

Woyewodzic was among the first people to participate in Pitch McGuire, a new program launched this fall by the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship.

The weekly program invites UA students and employees, as well as members of the general public, to pitch their business ideas in front of a panel of experts from the University and local business community.

“This is an excellent resource,” said Woyewodzic, a UA alumnus whose Tucson company, Western Harmonics, manufactures solar devices. Woyewodzig came to the event to get advice on what steps to take next with a new product.

“There are a lot of people out there who have ideas, and most people won’t act on them. One of the fears is not knowing what to do next,” he said. “This is a good environment to get professional advice in an informal setting.”

That’s exactly the type of environment Sherry Hoskinson, director of the McGuire Center, hoped to create when she started Pitch McGuire.

Read full story in Eller Buzz.

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