Eight student-led teams will participate in The John P. Ellbogen $50,000 Entrepreneurship Competition which awards cash prizes to a student-led entrepreneur team that shows significant business potential.
“We are once again excited about the innovative ideas and hard work shown by this year’s finalist teams,” Patrick Kreiser, UW College of Business Rile Chair of Entrepreneurship and Leadership said.
Sponsored by the UW College of Business, this competition encourages students to work on their talents, ideas, and energy to produce a high-end business model, alongside a mentor.
Teams are made up of students, both undergrad and graduate, across either the UW campus or Wyoming community colleges.
“More than anything, the purpose of experiential learning is to convince students to dream big and then provide them with the support to turn those dreams into reality. It is critical for new ideas and companies to enter the Wyoming economy,” Kreiser said.
“We are confident that the teams in the 2022 John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition will offer valuable and innovative business models that help to propel the Wyoming economy into the future.”
Each of the eight teams competing have various ideas to pitch.
Team Carving the Future, led by Talia Atkins, wants to empower youth by giving them snowboards and skateboards and all of the gear, lessons, and other things that come with it.
Team CASTRA 307, led by Luis Firo and Joseph Rubald, wants to help get modern car camping the attention and access it deserves.
GigaChar LLC, run by Erica Belmont and Alexandra Howell, wants to provide monitoring, reporting, and validation and develop pathways for the large-scale use of biochar-based carbon dioxide removal.
GS Solar, run by Grant Serbousek, is a renewable energy manufacturing company that wants to create adjustable, easy-to-install solar mounting solutions that increase viability and output while shortening solar install time.
IVIE Farms, run by Aaron Ivie, will provide locally grown fresh produce and meat to the Wind River Indian Reservation and surrounding communities through selling at local farmers’ markets.
Laboratory Inventory Management Systems (LIMS), developed by Shannon Albeke and Nicholas Cage, is an end-to-end solution of software and hardware designed to examine samples first drawn from the field.
UplinkRobotics LLC is a manufacturing company specializing in inspection robotics and drones. Future products include drones that can complete aerial inspections in hard-to-reach places like attic attics and rover variants.
Virtual Reality Athletics, run by Rhett Muchmore, provides quality entertainment for community members throughout the entire year by using virtual reality simulators. This company will help people enjoy the activities they love year-round and reach their peak performance by offering state-of-the-art simulators with instant data analytic feedback.
