Moravian College to host ‘Shark Tank’ style contest at entrepreneur symposium

Karapetian, founder and president of Lazari Asset Management and a 1997 graduate of Moravian, will deliver the keynote address at the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences.

Karapetian and four other Moravian alumni who founded or work for successful businesses that focus on healthy food and lifestyles will talk about how their companies contribute to society.

The scheduled speakers are Jeanne Petrucci, founder of Living Plate; Joe Durso, owner of KITCH Organic; Cliff Jackson, founder of Gravity Rail Media; and Drew Shreter, director of business development, Prosthetic and Orthotic Management Associates Corp.

The competition will feature three rounds during which undergraduate students will pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges and try to get to the next round.

“The goal for the symposium is to instill in its participants a practical sense of how to apply their business education,” Karapetian said in a statement.

“Through this experience, it’s my hope that the participants come to realize that education doesn’t end with college, especially as it pertains to business.”

Gary Kaskowitz, professor of economics and business at Moravian and an adviser to the student participants, said the students gain from being exposed to successful business professionals, “especially when they’re Moravian graduates making a real impact on the business world.”

The symposium will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences on Moravian College’s Main Street campus.