Bearden’s two Virtual Enterprise firms, Well-Beeing and NutriGum, attended the VE State Conference at Middle Tennessee State University on Thursday.
Both firms competed in the business plan competition, the elevator pitch competition, and the leadership innovation competition. Well Bee-ing and NutriGum, led by chief executive officers Will and Henry Mead, both placed in the top three in the business plan competition and Well Bee-ing finished in first place in the leadership innovation challenge.
The business plan competition involves students presenting an overview of their business to a panel of judges. The leadership innovation challenge offers students a more spur-of-the-moment way to showcase their critical thinking skills.
The two virtual enterprise firms are looking to build off of the success of last year’s firm, Scraps Clothing Co., which attended the national competition in New York City. This week’s competition only featured firms from the state of Tennessee, but competitions later in the year will expand the competition pool to firms from across the Southeast and the United States.
This is a successful start for the program after the expansion of Bearden VE into two separate firms. Will Mead, CEO of Well Bee-ing, has found that the split has been advantageous as it has allowed firms to come together with different leadership styles in a smaller group.
“We have grown a lot this year with two firms so we hope to maintain our level of excellence this year,” he said.
Later this year, both Well Bee-ing and NutriGum will compete in marketing, finance, and human resources competitions. VE leadership hopes that the competitions to come will not only allow students to practice real-world business and entrepreneurship skills, but will allow them to have great experiences and make great friends as well.
“I hope we will grow together as a firm and make great memories,” Will Mead said.