UNC Monfort College of Business Entrepreneurial Challenge
Winners announced in the 10th annual UNC Monfort College of Business Entrepreneurial Challenge
Five Colorado businesses participated in the 10th annual Monfort College of Business Entrepreneurial Challenge finals on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at the University Center on the UNC campus. The first place winner of the challenge is Notty Foods, second place winner is Laborjack, third place winner is Career Allies, fourth place winner is Ageto Energy and the fifth place winner is Define the Line.
All five finalists were awarded a share of $50,000 as well as services from UNC BizHub, the business incubator at University of Northern Colorado. The success of this year’s Entrepreneurial Challenge reflects UNC’s commitment to serve current and future students, businesses, and the Colorado community.
First place winner of $25,000 is Notty Foods (nottyfoods.com), from Denver. Notty Foods manufactures and distributes chocolate products that can help people reduce their sugar consumption.
Second place winner of $13,000 is Laborjack (laborjack.com), based in Fort Collins. Laborjack is a technology-based labor service provider that connects college students to individuals or businesses in need of labor, such as moving and yardwork.
Third place winner of $7,000 is Career Allies (careeralliesinc.com), from Fort Collins. Career Allies is an enterprise software solution that manages the parental leave process by partnering with companies to go beyond offering maternity and paternity leave.
Fourth place winner of $2,500 is Ageto Energy (agetoenergy.com) from Fort Collins. Ageto Energy simplifies the task of integrating renewable energy into power systems by reducing system complexity and enabling renewable energy to be integrated into power systems.
Fifth place winner of $2,500 is Define the Line (definethelinecomic.com) based in Fort Collins. Define the Line is a comic book-based sexual harassment training tool that provides fresh, relevant and actionable training to combat and prevent sexual harassment in and out of the workplace.
Generous partners and sponsors of the Monfort College of Business Entrepreneurial Challenge include The Monfort family, Colorado Lending Source, East Colorado SBDC, KUNC, UNC BizHub Collaborative, Envirotech Services, Inc. and WeldWerks Brewing.
Five finalists presented their business plans to a panel of judges, with backgrounds in several industries and multinational experience:
- Jay Andersen, Founder & CEO of Top-Line Xceleration and Adjunct Professor at Monfort College of Business;
- Bill Dieterich, Executive Director of Social and Advisory Group for Entrepreneurs (SAGE);
- Jeff Jones, Director of Quality for Jacobs and Adjunct Professor at Monfort College of Business;
- Karol Jones, Chief Financial Officer, Colorado Lending Source;
- Michael O’Donnell, Executive Director, Colorado Lending Source;
- Denny Otsuga, Founder, President and CEO of EnConnect Holdings;
- Nathalie Rachline, Cofounder of kIT Framework, Senior Director of IT Strategic Planning at Nutrien;
- Carolyn d’ Arville, (guest judge): Professor Emerita, Biological Sciences Rutgers University;
- Mary Alice Grant (guest judge): Co-Founder and Managing Partner for Rudder Associates, LLC.
The host for this year’s event was Paul Bobrowski, Dean for Monfort College of Business, with opening remarks from Andy Feinstein, President of the University. Also attending the finals were several students and teachers from Greeley Central’s business classes.
“This year’s competition set the stage for launching several new initiatives – a student
challenge to be rolled out in Fall 2019 and our inaugural Entrepreneurship Week in
January 2020. We are excited to see the Entrepreneurial Challenge continue to develop
into a unique, ongoing program that helps area high school and college students, businesses
and the community network, learn and grow,” said Dallas Everhart, Director of the
Entrepreneurial Challenge.
