March 13th, 2019
For Immediate Release
Published By: Hunterdon County Economic Development/Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce/ Flemington Community Partnership
Find out what's happening in Flemingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Contact: Marc Saluk; msaluk@co.hunterdon.nj.us; 908-399-1108
HackHunterdon Hackathon 2019 Dates Announced
Find out what's happening in Flemingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Applications now being accepted for the June 8th & 9th event
Flemington- Hunterdon County’s annual hackathon, a 24-hour tech product creation competition, is now accepting applications for this year’s event to be held on June 8th and 9th at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, New Jersey.
The HackHunterdon Hackathon annually invites the regions’ technologists, entrepreneurs, students and other innovators to be part of the marathon-style gathering to build new projects, connect with fellow technologists, be inspired, and ultimately pitch their ideas for prizes and potential investment. Additionally, sponsoring companies have directly recruited participants at each of the previous two hackathons.
The event is in it’s third year and is run by three regional economic development partners- Hunterdon County Economic Development, the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce and Flemington Community Partnership.
Marc Saluk, Economic Development Director of Hunterdon County said, “The hackathon is a great annual opportunity to identify and bring together our local tech talent. This gives them a chance to work with each other and us a chance to partner with them long term to continue to cement Hunterdon County as a hub of innovation.”
Chamber of Commerce President Chris Phelan agrees.
“The hackathon is a primary piece of a collaborative, long-term effort to encourage small business and innovation growth in Hunterdon County,” commented Phelan. “Teams from previous events are still working together to develop and bring their ideas to market.”
Phelan emphasized though that just plain “fun’ is a key element to the success of the hackathon, adding that special events, games, cool swag, and plenty of free food and caffeine are provided in an effort to keep energy levels up and make for a memorable event.
Last years’ hackathon had 78 participants that divided into 22 competing teams, with about half of those being composed of high school students. In addition to bringing a lot of energy to the event, Saluk stated that student teams took two of the top three prizes while competing directly against teams composed of adults.
Hunterdon Central Superintendent Jeff Moore was not surprised by the kid’s successes.
"Our children have an incredible amount of talent, and are amazing problem-solvers both inside and outside of the classroom," stated Moore. "I see it day in and day out."
Regardless of the breakdown of participants, organizers are excited about this year’s event and about what the overall HackHunterdon initiative continues to mean for the community.
“Momentum is building in Hunterdon County to spur growth in the technology sector, and it starts right here in Flemington,” said Bob King, Board President of Flemington Community Partnership. “We are discovering the wide breadth of talent already here in the Flemington area and throughout Hunterdon County from both the hackathon as well as our monthly tech meetup, which has over 400 members.”
Those interested in applying to the 2019 HackHunterdon Hackathon or just learning more about the event can do so at HackHunterdon.com. Questions can be directed to team@hackhunterdon.com or by calling 908-399-1108
The HackHunterdon Tech Meetup is held on the last Thursday of every month at Lone Eagle Brewing in Flemington at 7pm. Register here: https://www.meetup.com/hackhunterdon/.