Carneys Win Second Big Gig Pitch-Off

University of Maine students and married couple John Carney and Christine Carney won the Big Gig’s second pitch-off for their promotion of their business, Through Thick and Thin, which offers quirky acrylic cupcake toppers, jewelry and ornaments.

Three businesses had been selected to pitch their products or companies to a panel of judges at the event at Kosta’s Bar and Grill in Old Town.

The winners received $100 and an invitation to compete for a $1,000 grand prize in the Big Gig Finale in April.

The Big Gig is designed to bring together Bangor-Orono area innovators and entrepreneurs and offer networking opportunities. It was started by a partnership between the University of Maine, Old Town, Orono and Husson University and is supported by Blackstone Accelerates Growth.

Sarah Newcomb, a doctoral student in behavioral economics at UMaine and research assistant at UMaine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative, won the Big Gig’s first pitch-off event in October with “Who’s Your Daddy?” — a phone app she developed that allows shoppers to scan products to learn more about its parent company.

More about the Carneys and how UMaine’s Foster Center for Student Innovation helped get their company off the ground is online.