By Kelly Jedrzejewski
Penn State students had the opportunity to showcase their entrepreneurial aspirations at the 2026 Ag Springboard student business pitch contest, which took place last month in State College.
Sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Springboard is a key event for the college’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, which fosters an entrepreneurial mindset for student success across majors and career paths.
During Ag Springboard, student teams pitch new business or nonprofit ideas to improve food, agriculture, biorenewable materials, community development or sustainability. Each student team must have at least one member enrolled in the college. Since 2011, 205 teams and 567 students have competed in Ag Springboard, with more than $125,000 in awards offered. This year, 10 teams and 23 students competed.
Jessica Padula, David Flores, Andrew Minton and Griffin White were the team behind Kumbu Connect. They took home first prize at this year’s competition and received $7,500. Kumbu Connect is a digital platform that strengthens agricultural community-based organizations, or CBOs, across sub-Saharan Africa by simplifying the process of connecting with grant-giving institutions.
Padula is majoring in agricultural and biorenewable systems management, and White is pursuing a degree in finance.
Source : psu.edu