BAST Manufacturing is the grand prize winner of the UW College of Business’ 23rd
annual John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition. Presenting the business’s
pitch during the competition are, from left: Clayton Auzqui, a recent UW graduate
from Clearmont who studied economics and agriculture business; Carly Keller, a sophomore
from Torrington majoring in veterinary technology at Eastern Wyoming College; and
Jared Clapper, a senior from Veteran studying finance at UW.
Donors support Wyoming’s future through UW’s entrepreneurship programs.
By Tamara Linse
The University of Wyoming helps power Wyoming’s workforce through entrepreneurship
— educating its future business leaders, incubating its businesses and developing
ideas that translate to real-world impact.
UW is supporting Wyoming’s economy through its vibrant entrepreneurship programs.
With a history of supporting entrepreneurial education over 20 years in the making,
the College of Business’s Entrepreneurship Program provides UW students with majors
and minors designed to turn their dreams into reality. It also features UW’s oldest
entrepreneurship competition, which just celebrated its 23rd anniversary. IMPACT 307
is a statewide network of business incubators that also strengthen Wyoming’s economy.
The Wyoming Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides comprehensive support
to businesses at every stage of their journey.
Not only is UW all in on Wyoming entrepreneurship — UW’s supporters and the state
of Wyoming are as well. Here are a few of the companies, foundations and individuals
doing their part.
The John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition was founded in 2001 as a $10K
competition, with annual contributions from First Interstate Bank and other donors.
Support for the competition accelerated in 2005 when First Interstate Bank made a
commitment that was matched by the state. A 2009 gift from the John P. Ellbogen Foundation
supported the competition and was doubled by state matching. In 2017, First Interstate
Bank made an additional commitment to expand the reach of the competition to Wyoming
community colleges, and that same year the John P. Ellbogen Foundation made an additional
commitment that increased the cash prize for the competition. Today, the competition
bears the name John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition — a nod to the minimum
of $50,000 in cash prizes awarded every single year to participants.
Hosted by the College of Business, the competition encourages college students across
Wyoming to act on their talents, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow’s leading businesses.
It awards cash prizes to outstanding teams of student entrepreneurs who submit their
business plans for new ventures with significant potential. It provides business consulting
expertise, C-level mentorship, financial mentorship, and a strong entrepreneurial
network of investors and potential partners. A great example of the competition’s
success is the competition’s 2011 winner, Bright Agrotech, an innovative leader in
vertical farming.
Another great example of entrepreneurship support is alums Pat and Kathi Rile, who
have done so much for their alma mater. This includes establishing the Rile Endowed
Chair of Entrepreneurship and Leadership and an excellence fund for entrepreneurship
in the College of Business. The Rile Chair of Entrepreneurship and Leadership is an
endowed faculty position that teaches entrepreneurship in the College of Business.
Rile Chair Patrick Kreiser says: “Students may think it’s about starting a business,
but I also think it’s more broadly about how you think about and approach the world.
Whether it’s going to work for a family business or a small firm or a corporation
or going back to work on the ranch, entrepreneurship is about taking advantage of
opportunities and controlling your own destiny.”
The Fisher Innovation Launchpad was created in 2016 through a gift from Donne Fisher,
a retired executive in the cable television industry, which was matched by the state.
It created a student and faculty competition designed to foster and stimulate a culture
of entrepreneurship. The launchpad awards seed funding to student-led businesses with
a focus on innovation, problem-solving, emerging industries and disruptive technology
startups.
A targeted focus on entrepreneurship comes from an estate gift by Mary Carole Sandorf
Baker, an artist, teacher and business owner. Her gift combined her life’s passions
by creating the Mary Carole Sandorf Baker Student Excellence Fund in Art, Design and
Entrepreneurship, and the Mary Carole Sandorf Baker Student Excellence Fund in Engineering,
Design and Entrepreneurship.
These are just a few examples. UW is nurturing Wyoming’s entrepreneurial ecosystem
so that the potential of our rural communities can be unlocked, thus revitalizing
local economies and improving our quality of life.
