Joseph Genuardi Takes Top Spot in UCEDC's Entrepreneurial Pitch Competition

Name: Genuardi Master Tailor

Location: Hoboken, NJ

When Joseph Genuardi decided to put aside his industrial design degree from Carnegie Mellon and instead apprentice for five years with a master Italian tailor, he knew he was learning from the best.

When he decided to open his own master tailor shop in Hoboken in 2016, he again sought expert guidance. This time from the business experts at UCEDC.

Joseph is a graduate of UCEDC’s Entrepreneurship 101, an intensive six-week workshop where participants test their business readiness and assumptions. He's also the winner of our 2016 Quick Pitch competition where participants pitch their business ideas to an impartial judging panel in exchange for cash prizes provided by Capital One Bank.

Prior to launching his own business of high-end, hand-tailored suits, Joseph worked at one of the largest and most esteemed made-to-measure clothing makers in the world, where he was tailor to famous actors, sports stars and even President Obama. He was confident in his tailoring abilities, but when it came to actually running a business, it was a different story. “UCEDC’s Entrepreneurship 101 workshop was like a 6-week apprenticeship in business finance and operations and every session was an eye-opener,”say Joseph.

Now, with his training under his belt, a first-prize Quick Pitch award of $2,000 and the ongoing mentoring of UCEDC’s business coaches, Joseph is ready to craft a sustainable, profitable business.