WSU entrepreneurs ideas win $2000

On Saturday, the Weber Entrepreneur Association held their Executive Summary Challenge in the Shepherd Union Building, giving a prize of $2,000 to Weber State University entrepreneurs Casey Elliott and Jared Hales. 150 applicants entered the challenge and eight finalist teams were invited to participate in the event.

The finalists gathered in an SUB ballroom for a luncheon, each team's entrepreneurial proposal and most importantly, awards.

Contestants were given five minutes to pitch their idea and five minutes to answer questions asked to them by the judges.

Those judging the competition consisted of five local professionals that are entrepreneurs themselves, including Dave Norton, co-founder of Iomega, and Jerry Ropelato, founder and CEO of TopTenReviews.com.

Michael Anderson, a junior in business administration at WSU expressed his anxiousness beforehand.

"I'm nervous every time I let one of my creative children out of my body," Anderson said.

One of the finalists had never participated in a competition like this before.

"This is the first time I've done something like this," finalist Ryan Hatch said. "I just saw a flier advertising it on the wall in the business building and thought it was worth a shot."

Proposals included a wide variety of ideas: a web design site for personal or business use, an environmentally friendly shipping company that would use alternatives to fossil fuels, a Spanish translation company, a business to provide parts of China with English teachers, and a record label company.

Jared Hales and Casey Elliott, first-place winners in the competition, proposed a new device they called PEST (Personal Emergency Signal Transmitter), a device for outdoorsman to wear in case of an emergency.

The device has motion sensor and would sound if it didn't sense any motion; for example, if the user was unconscious or unable to activate it.

It would also be cost-efficient and easy to use. Hales and Elliott hope to save outdoorsman who may be stuck in an avalanche, fallen while rock climbing or are just endangered in their outdoor activities.

Hales and Elliott will automatically make it to the top 25 in the state competition - Utah Entrepreneur Challenge.

A WSU senior in marketing and a member of the Weber Entrepreneur Association, Elliot played a major role in organizing this event.

"It's basically a practice run for the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, where the first place winner gets $40,000," Elliott said. "The WEA (Weber Entrepreneur Association) Executive Summary Challenge only requires an executive summary, which is an overview summarizing the key points of your plan, but the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge requires the full business plan that includes your plans in marketing, financing, revenue, things like that."

Chelsea Geer and Troy Larsen, the second place team, won $700 by proposing a company called Appeals Specialists, which would audit insurance claims.

Third-place winner Peter Owen won a $300 prize by proposing a web site called ridingstyle.com, where skiers and snowboarders can buy tickets, plan trips, and local businesses can advertise.

The club is not just for business majors.

"People from any major can join the Weber Entrepreneur Association," said Peter Owen, a WSU business administration major, "we meet every week at the Davis Campus."

Anyone can apply for the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge via www.uec.utah.com until February 14, 2008.