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The Patchogue Young Professionals‘ third annual Shark Tank competition was a record-breaking success.
Modeled after ABC’s popular show “Shark Tank,” Patchogue-Medford High School students developed and pitched their entrepreneurial ideas for a chance to win prizes.
“Best year yet,” said Stephen King, founder of Patchogue Young Professionals. “It was the most amount of students and prize money.”
Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Patchogue, the competition featured 26 teams and 70 students. That’s double the number from last year.
“All the hard work is paying off, they are a motivated bunch,” said Mike D’Ambrosio, past Kiwanis Club president.
Six students were awarded prize money for their business concepts on March 11 and greaterpatchogue.com spoke to all the winners about their entrepreneurial dreams.
Story continues after photo.
Ella’s Collection
The first-place prize of $1,500 was presented to Ella Ginas for her business, Ella’s Collection, which began with an interest in thrifting clothes.
“I’d go to thrift stores, take shirts, tie-dye them, sew them, cut them, and then COVID hit, so everyone started shopping local,” Ella said. “My business started growing, and I wanted a new challenge.”
The young entrepreneur said when she noticed broken designer bags deemed as unusable, she decided to recycle them.
“I take authentic, Louis Vuitton bags and I cut patches off of them and put them on hats,” Ella said. “I sell them to 14 boutiques in seven states.”
In addition to the popular beanies and hats, Ella said she also creates jewelry, such as rings and earrings, with the bag’s material.
So far, Ginas has sold over 2,300 items to customers in 31 states and hopes her business can inspire others to shop more sustainably.
“I try to use the whole bag, so there’s no waste because what Louis Vuitton does at the end of each year is burn all their unsold bags, so they’re still desirable and rare,” Ella said. “I think it’s really important to tap into the second-hand market and shop local because the fast-fashion industry is really hurting the environment.”
Ginas said she plans on using her money to buy a machine to help cut the patches more efficiently, as well as invest in advertising.
Route 180
Michelle Rocano and Lesli Reinoso earned second place and were awarded $1,000 for their app, Route 180, which helps students track their school buses on their phones.
The app is similar to Life 360 and other tracking-type technology, but Rocano said this is specifically for school districts.
The entrepreneurial duo said they plan on saving up their earnings from the competition and investing the money into bringing the app to life.
“I feel so excited that someone really liked our idea,” Lesli said.
ElectroTec Industries
Joe Lopez hopes to change the world and how we use energy. His company, ElectroTec Industries, came in third place, which earned the student $500 in prize money.
Joe said this was his first time entering the business competition and that “it was a dream come true.”
His goal with ElectroTec Industries is to end global warming and the use of nuclear power plants, he said.
“It all started off with making a charger, which is called a nuclear charge, which is a wireless power charge that runs like Bluetooth and powers your phone without even having to connect it,” Joe said. “I based it off of Nikola Tesla, who is my inspiration.”
Lopez analyzed what the inventor did with the Tesla coil, deconstructed it and made it his own, he said.
He added that he has all the elements to hopefully make the charger one day, and that the next step is figuring out the mathematics and engineering aspects.
“I want that to power a whole house and stop the use of power plants,” Joe said. “Your house becomes independent with solar panels … I want to make every house independent and be able to supply its own energy without the need of power plants.”
Thermo Thread
Natali Reinoso and Katelynn McDonald secured fourth place and a check for $200 for their business, Thermo Thread.
The two students came up with the idea of business attire with thermal lining for those who work in cold, harsh conditions.
“Instead of wearing business clothes in uncomfortable, cold conditions, you can actually be warm and comfortable,” Katelynn said. “It’s really cool someone liked our idea.”
Top: First place winner Ella Ginas with the organizers of the competition.
