The first Carbon County Start-Up Challenge has four finalist teams that will compete for seed funding in a Pitch Night competition Thursday, Jan. 19.
The event begins at 5 p.m. at the Parco Theatre, located at 300 Lincoln Ave. in Sinclair. The public is invited to attend. More information can be found at https://impact307.org/events/.
The Carbon County Start-Up Challenge is a competition for local entrepreneurs that provides valuable mentorship from the University of Wyoming’s IMPACT 307 and the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network. The first competition attracted 26 applications. Four finalists will compete for seed funding provided by the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and the Business Innovation Hub of Carbon County.
The challenge is administered by IMPACT Carbon County, a collaboration between UW and Western Wyoming Community College, which is made possible by the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act grant. IMPACT Carbon County also is made possible with the efforts of its strategic partners: Pam Thayer, of the Business Innovation Hub of Carbon County, and Jim Drever, of the Wyoming SBDC Network.
The seed money grants will be determined by local judges. The audience also will have a chance to vote for its favorite for an Audience Choice Award via text.
The four finalists competing on Pitch Night are:
— Good Raising LLC was founded by Don Woolley in 2020 to create online giving tools for nonprofit organizations. The first product is an online will that nonprofits can provide to their donors and other constituents. The process provides a free will for the donor and an opportunity to easily leave a bequest to sustain and expand the nonprofit’s impact. For more information, go to www.goodraising.com.
— Brewed Learning, founded by Cody and Christine Anderson, is a coffee education and learning company, centrally located in the heart of the United States. The Andersons equip coffeehouses with the necessary education to take their coffeehouses to the next level. They offer beginner to intermediate barista training both in their training lab and with their mobile training unit. They also provide continuing education and ongoing maintenance and repairs to the coffeehouses’ equipment and products.
— Encampment River Glamping LLC, founded by Jon and Heidi Suttee, of Encampment, will provide a glamping experience along the Encampment River. This will fill an unfilled need for tourists who wish to have an offering between camping and luxury resorts. The Suttees hope to attract many new tourists to Carbon County.
— The Wandering Chef, founded by John Ryan, offers a full range of culinary services intended to bolster regional business and highlight the area’s cuisine. Ryan’s approach is two-fold, reaching consumers directly through pop-up kitchens, event vending, catering and home chef services. Secondly, he offers a suite of culinary consulting/educational products, ranging from cooking classes and social media content to restaurant consulting, staff training and beyond. For more information, visit https://johnr1986.wixsite.com/mysite.
IMPACT 307 is a statewide network of innovation-driven business incubators committed to growing and strengthening Wyoming’s entrepreneurial community by providing resources and support for founders to thrive. The Wyoming SBDC is a network of expert small-business advisers located across the state. Both IMPACT 307 and the Wyoming SBDC Network provide mentorship to Wyoming entrepreneurs at no cost. Entrepreneurs do not need to participate in a startup challenge to receive assistance.
For more information about IMPACT 307, call Monica Patten, IMPACT Carbon County assistant director, at (307) 466-3963 or email monica.patten@uwyo.edu.
For more information about the Wyoming SBDC Network, call Drever, regional director for Albany and Carbon counties, at (307) 766-3505 or email james@uwyo.edu.