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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Two local start-ups did their best &#8220;Shark Tank&#8221; impression by pitching their business models to potential investors and benefactors Wednesday evening.</p><p>Both Southern Safety Productions LLC and Miner&#8217;s Mill Craft Distillery presented their history, goals and services in front of attendees at the &#8220;Pitch&#8221; event held at the THINK Center in the city&#8217;s downtown.</p><p>Nick Rosati, founder and CEO of Miner&#8217;s Mill Distillery, placed a bid for the distillery at a tax sale in 2015. A year later, he was granted the deed to a place that&#8217;s been around since 1795 and zoned for a license to distill whiskey.</p><p>&#8220;The goal tonight is to find an investor to accelerate the process,&#8221; said Rosati about garnering funds for his city-based business. &#8220;I&#8217;m open to different deals because it&#8217;s a unique industry.&#8221;</p><p>Rosati was willing to negotiate equity, loans and other types of agreements. He is looking for investments between $125,000 and $4 million.</p><p>When the distillery is fully functioning, Rosati hopes to hire approximately 50 people locally for all facets of the operation from production to people in the tasting rooms.</p><p>&#8220;Whiskey is an investment,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a product that appreciates over time.&#8221;</p><p>Dr. Nicholas Welch pitched a drastically different operation.</p><p>Southern Safety Productions makes Smoke Shields, a four-part device that uses a filter to provide a person trapped in a house fire with breathable air for up to one hour while awaiting rescue.</p><p>During his pitch, Welch provided statistics that said over 3,000 people die each year in fires. He also pointed out that smoke deaths outpace fire deaths eight to one.</p><p>Welch said his product costs $250 per unit and he hopes to target the young adult/parent segment along with the senior population.</p><p>He is seeking a $150,000 investment to help his startup in many areas, including: e-commerce, social media and production.</p><p>&#8220;Eight people die per day,&#8221; said Welch. &#8220;The longer the product takes to get to market, the more people die.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nicholas Welch, M.D., makes his pitch to investors for his Smoke Shield system at the Wilkes-Barre THINK Center during an event Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032019pitch-dan_2-1-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nicholas Welch, M.D., makes his pitch to investors for his Smoke Shield system at the Wilkes-Barre THINK Center during an event Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032019pitch-dan_1-1-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Miner&#8217;s Mill Craft Distillery founder Nick Rosati, right, describes his business to Wilkes University Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise &amp; Entrepreneurship Executive Director Rodney Ridley and Wilkes University Executive-in-Residence Jerry Ephault at the THINK Center during a Wilkes-Barre Connect Pitch event Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032019pitch-dan_1-1-1-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Miner&#8217;s Mill Craft Distillery founder Nick Rosati, right, describes his business to Wilkes University Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise &amp; Entrepreneurship Executive Director Rodney Ridley and Wilkes University Executive-in-Residence Jerry Ephault at the THINK Center during a Wilkes-Barre Connect Pitch event Wednesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dan Stokes</p><p>dstokes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Dan Stokes at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @ByDanStokes</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Local start-ups try to lure investors at Pitch event