Local Inventor Finalist In Nationwide Competition

VENETIA (KDKA) -- A local woman got tired of struggling with shrink-wrapped packages, so she came up with a better way.

Now, she's a finalist in a nationwide competition.

"If you're like me, you know how difficult it is to open packages of shrink wrapped bottled water and other beverages. This stuff is tough. That's how I came up with the idea of 'Sharkcut.'"

Staci Gregor, of Venetia, makes her pitch in a video advertising her new invention. The plastic handle and roller cuts through shrinks wrapped bottles and cans.

"I'm a mom," she says. "I have kids. They're in school, they're in sports. And carrying that heavy case and poking a hole with my keys and my pen, and tearing that little hole, it was just frustrating. So I figured there had to be a better way. And I just came up with an idea. My son came up with the idea to make it shaped like a shark."

Many steps later, she competed with corporations nationwide for the prestigious "Stevie" award, for Best New Product of the Year.

"I couldn't believe it when I opened the email, and it told me I was a finalist out of thousands and thousands of entries."

The winner will be announced in September. Meanwhile, Sharkcut is on the shelves of local stores and supermarket chains.

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