Breonna Coleman, a marketing major from Pine Bluff, was recently declared winner of the second annual Elevator Pitch Competition.

The competition was presented by Federated Insurance in the atrium of the UALR Donald W. Reynolds College of

Business on April 28.

For each “pitch,” students acted out the role of a marketing representative for Federated Insurance having just stepped onto an elevator with John Riggs, owner of Riggs CAT, who was present for the competition.

The goal of the pitch was to get an appointment with Riggs to discuss the insurance needs of his company.

Coleman won the event and was also chosen as crowd favorite. Holly Benbrook, an accounting major, placed second and Brandi Glover, a marketing major with an emphasis in advertising and public relations, placed third.

Thirty finalists elected from audio entries advanced to the video portion of the competition. In March, the video entries were judged to narrow down the top ten finalists competing April 28.

The panel of three judges included Michael Singleton, assistant director of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, Ben Peterson, marketing manager for Federated Insurance, and Luke Castin, regional director for State Farm Insurance.

Sponsored by the UALR Center for Professional Selling, the Elevator Pitch was open to all students with prizes awarded to the top three finishers and crowd favorite.