PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION BELOW WAS FOR LAUNCH DAY OF JAN 2025.
STAY TUNED FOR UPDATED INFO FOR THE NOV 2025 EDITION!
Ready, Set, Go!
Launch Day 2025 is happening soon!
Below are all the logistics details you need to attend👇
EVENT OVERVIEW
Agenda
9am | Registration – Welcome & Team Reveals
10am | Mini-lecture 1 – What Your Idea Needs to Fly
12:00pm | Mini-lecture 2 – Testing (+ Lunch)
2:00pm | Mini-lecture 3 – Business Model
3:15pm | Mini-lecture 4 – How to Pitch
4pm | Pitch Practice
5pm | Evening Event Starts (Open to Public) – Each Team Pitches
6:30pm | Judge Deliberation
7pm | Winners Announced
*Between each mini-lecture, teams will be working together and with the support of mentors to apply the concepts learned and build their new businesses.
Please bring your own refillable water bottles & mugs.
We ❤️ Nature & Beautiful North Country
Help us reduce waste at the event!
If possible, please bring your own refillable water bottle and coffee mugs.
Small steps like these can make a big difference.
Thank you! 🥰❤️
LAPTOPS: Yes!
If you have a laptop, please bring it!
We’ll be sharing mini-lectures, online notes, and you’ll be expected to build a pitch deck.
Driving there?
Map to parking below.
Miller Campus Center is in the same building as the “Davis Health Center” on this map.
IN from WATERTOWN OR PLATTSBURGH?
Awesome that you’re making the trek to come join us.
We can’t wait to meet you!😊
Transportation is taken care of for you.
Here are the people coordinating for each school:
Jefferson Community College – Kerry Kennett
SUNY Plattsburgh – Nancy Church
They will contact you directly with transportation details – or please reach out to them if you have questions.
* Students from the Canton-Potsdam area are expected to secure their own transportation to the event.
A full-day student entrepreneurship challenge!
Learn what it takes to launch a new business.
Join STUDENTS FROM ALL across NORTH COUNTRY!
FAQ
Is there a dress code to the event?
Each participant will be given a Launch Day t-shirt and is encouraged to wear it during the day. But, otherwise, no specific dress code.
Unlike the business culture, the typical startup founder attire is a pretty casual one. Honestly, you’ll be spending the whole day working hard and we care more about your comfort and the logic that you put into your idea than your fashion sense.
Please just use your common sense.
I don't have an entrepreneurship idea. Do I need one to participate?
You do not need to have an idea to participate!
A few weeks before the event, we’ll collect ideas from those who have them and offer you the chance to vote on your preferred ideas from the submitted list.
On the event day, we’ll announce the top ideas selected and reveal your team (i.e., who you’ll be working with and what you’ll be working on)!
I wasn't invited to participate. Can I still sign up?
For this first year, participation is limited to students who have been invited to join by a professor or staff from their school.
Is there someone at my school whom I should contact if I have additional questions?
Here are the people involved from each school.
Click on their names to send them an email
SUNY Canton – Lenore VanderZee, Nick Kocher, or Bill Myers
Clarkson University – Jamey Hoose or Aïko Thurlow
Saint Lawrence University – Geoff Falen
SUNY Postdam – Greg Gardner or Shalu Wunnava
Paul Smith’s College – Diane Litynski
SUNY Plattsburgh – Rich Gottschall
Jefferson Community College – Kerry Kennett
North Country Community College – Kim Duffey
I require an excuse letter as I'll have to miss class to attend Launch Day
If you are required to have an excuse letter to explain why you can’t attend class on January 31, please send us an email at nocolaunchday@gmail.com mentioning your name and school.
Remind me again - what happens at Launch Day?
- Participants will have 9 hours to build as much of an idea as possible:
- Validate if it’s a good idea 💡
- Create a basic business model 💸
- Understand how to test and design the idea 🤖
- Practice pitching it 📢
- In the evening, participants will pitch their ideas to the audience (all of us + open to the public). 🎤
- The ideas participants will work on during Launch Day will have been submitted in advance.
- Participants were invited to submit ideas (new ideas recommended)
- Each participant read all submitted ideas and voted on their 3 favorites
- The Launch Day team did its magic to form teams
- At the beginning of Launch Day, we will reveal to participants:
- Who else is on their team
- What idea they have been assigned
North Country Launch Day is a partnership among colleges and universities in North Country, NY.
We believe that developing an entrepreneurial mindset and skills empowers both students and our region.
Our goal is to inspire and support entrepreneurship by inviting students to explore this exciting field, fostering a strong community, and strengthening collaboration among local institutions.