Two winners announced in Muskie Tank Challenge

White Bear Press

WHITE BEAR LAKE — Two Century College students walked away with $5,000 for their education expenses April 19.

Charles Georgi and Kyle Trepanier were announced as the winners of the Muskie Tank Challenge, a “Shark Tank”-inspired competition put on by the college. Normally, there is one winner.

“Our judges this year were unable to break a tie between the top finalists,” Academic Affairs Vice President Michael Berndt said. “We picked two winners for the 2018 Muskie Tank Challenge.”

The news was met with a round of applause.

Berndt said he could not divulge what the business ideas were.

To win the challenge, each student must come up with a business idea and a marketing plan. Judges began reviewing first-round applicants at the beginning of March; semifinalists were announced March 8. Final judging was last week.

Both Georgi and Trepanier were given the grand prize — tuition for a full year at Century College, to not exceed $5,000. Four $1,000 scholarships were also awarded. All top finalists received a $100 gift card to the Century College bookstore. The scholarships were provided by sponsoring businesses and organizations.

Georgi is an engineering student in the college’s additive digital manufacturing program and plans to graduate in spring 2019. Trepanier is also an engineering student in the same program. Trepanier will be a NASA Community College Aerospace Scholar this summer.

One of the winners will also compete in the MN Cup competition, put on by the University of Minnesota. The grand prize for that competition is $80,000 in cash.

The winners were announced as part of Century College’s 50th anniversary celebration, “Transforming Lives for 50 Years,” which was held at the Envision Event Center in Oakdale. Raffle drawings and a live auction were also put on to fundraise for students at the college.