“It’s tough to spit out the words when you’ve got cotton mouth,” said Grooms, a student in Southeast Community College’s Business Administration program. “I think my presentation was fast, and I skipped parts of it.”
None of that, or the fact that he was the next-to-last student to propose a new business venture, mattered as Grooms won the two-year college category Thursday night during the Third Annual 3-2-1 Quick Pitch Competition in the Stadium Club at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
Grooms, a Des Moines native, along with four students in the four-year college category and one high school competitor, each won a $1,000 cash prize. Students showcased their entrepreneurial, communication and presentation skills during a three-minute “quick pitch” proposal for a new business venture, which they delivered to a panel of entrepreneurially-minded experts from across Nebraska.
Grooms proposed distilling a new gin through his company Grooms Ranch Distilling and Brewing. His product, Black Hearts Gin, hasn’t been produced yet due to financial issues and “we need a trial run to see if it’s the right recipe.”
Grooms pitched two years ago but didn’t win. This time the judges liked what they heard from the 28-year-old husband and father.
“They liked that I was trying to get into a particular market (women ages 30-60), and they were curious as to why I chose women,” Grooms said.
During his pitch, he said he had bounced the idea off a number of women and had “not gotten a bad response. I’m looking for someone with an established lifestyle.”
Grooms began his presentation by saying, “Who doesn’t enjoy an adult beverage?” He then described the distilling industry and how he plans to build his business.
During the holidays Grooms and his father sampled some Templeton Rye, whiskey originally made in Templeton, Iowa. He acknowledged that he enjoys gin and mixed drinks, so why not try to start a business?
Grooms began his college career at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln studying horticulture. But after two years he dropped out.
“I wasn’t prepared to go to college and be away from home,” he said. “I’m not sure I had the maturity level needed.”
In 2001 Grooms enrolled at SCC. Initially he took transfer classes and planned to return to UNL. But at the same time, he wanted to learn how to repair small engines so he could return to the university with a skill he believed would help him in his horticulture program. He earned a diploma in Motorcycle, ATV & Personal Watercraft Technology from SCC in July 2008 and never returned to UNL.
Now he’s one quarter away from earning an associate degree in Business Administration with an entrepreneurship focus.
“I might come back to SCC for more,” Grooms said with a grin. “SCC has been fantastic. I can really relate to the faculty, who convey real-world experiences. Their teaching style is good for me.”
Tim Mittan, director of SCC’s Entrepreneurship Center, said he and his staff coached the SCC students prior to the competition.
“It is a competition; it is nerve-racking,” Mittan said. “We stressed that they focus and that they really know their content. If they know their content, they can deal with all the other stuff.”
Of the nine competitors in the two-year college category, seven were SCC students: Joseph Busby of Kansas City, Mo.; Ryan Cairns of Lincoln, who won last year’s two-year college category; Angela Eggert of Beatrice; Sharon Tenhulzen of Lincoln; Russell Kerner of Tecumseh; and Patricia Martin of Lincoln.