CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (December 10, 2021) — At the fourth annual Kohawk Startup, Coe College students were awarded $2,500 in funding to launch entrepreneurial ideas. Kohawk Startup is an innovative 24-hour event led by NewBoCo Chief Relationship Officer and Coe Entrepreneur-in-Residence David Tominsky (’98) that engages students through the brainstorming, pitching, and presentation process of developing their ideas. Business leaders and Coe alumni from across the country participated and mentored Coe students.
The three winning teams represented a wide spectrum of ideas that has come to define the event. In first place, Elyse Johnson ('22) and Thanh Tran ('24) came up with Revolving Shelter for Independent Living, a tiny home community providing education, skills, and resources to help solve homelessness in Cedar Rapids. They were awarded $1,000. The second-place prize of $750 went to For the Moment, a crowdsourcing app to help Coe students find a quiet place to study or relax on campus pitched by Maria Cargille ('23), Joi Blue ('23), and Cornelia Gabriel ('25). J&M Innovations, a scalable urban-rooftop farming business-model by Jacob Kacik ('22) and Mylz Foreman ('25), took third place with a prize of $500 as well as the Audience Choice award of $250.
In addition to cash-funding, the winning teams have exclusive access to legal and marketing services and consultations with Tominsky to jumpstart their business models. All Coe students have access to Tominsky for one-on-one startup advising.
Kohawk Startup was developed by C3: Creativity, Careers, Community to create mentorships and provide hands-on entrepreneurial experience for students. C3 is a branch within the Office of Advancement, optimizing student-career and community-engagement opportunities through a network of 4,000 alumni living in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor. As a result, 100% of Coe students are guaranteed an internship, research, or off-campus study program. These relationships have been nationally recognized. The Princeton Review ranked Coe tenth on its list of Best Schools for Internships and twentieth for Best Alumni Network among private colleges.
Coe College offers superb academics and exciting co-curricular activities in a thriving urban setting that promotes student growth and success. Established in 1851, Coe has a national reputation for academic excellence enhanced by a student-centered, highly-supportive campus environment. Coe’s vibrant Cedar Rapids location provides an abundance of internships for students and career opportunities for graduates.
