A pair of Green River brothers' plan to construct eco-friendly and energy-efficient homes won them $10,000 from a University of Wyoming competition to start up their own company.
Joe and Jared Killpack, both business administration sophomores, devised the top
plan in the UW College of Business' annual $10K Entrepreneurship Competition. The
event, open to all UW students, encourages them to act on their talents, ideas and
energy to produce tomorrow's businesses.
According to the Killpack brothers' business plan, their company, Green Homes and
Construction, specializes in eco-friendly and energy-efficient home construction,
using different design and building techniques to separate themselves from their competition.
Each year, the top team earns $10,000, with an incentive prize of $2,500, while the second-place team receives $5,000 and the third-place team $ 2,500. Additional prizes are also awarded for the best presentation and most creative plan.
As the winning team, the Killpack brothers will be offered a one-year, rent-free
opportunity to build their business in the Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC),
a technology-related business incubator that assists Wyoming entrepreneurs.
Other UW students also were awarded prizes during the recent $10K Entrepreneurship
Competition.
Second place went to OxiSense Marine, developed by MBA students Luke Schneider, from
Powell, and Weston Welch, from Evanston. The pair developed a high-quality sensor
that solves the problem of excessive chlorine emissions in the cooling systems of
sea vessels.
Josef Pohl, a doctoral student in computer science from Clive, Iowa, had the third-place
entry. His business, Proof Foundry, provides formally engineered and verified software
solutions to a market demanding a higher level of security and reliability from its
internet based software.
Pohl also won the prize for most creative business plan.
The next place winner was Epic Video, developed by Michael Lucas, a Gillette business
administration senior with a minor in marketing. His planned video rental company
presentation stated that his better customer service and prices beat the local competition
by taking advantage of better management, software, layout and theft prevention methods.
Lucas also won the best presentation award.
For more information about the competition, contact Rachel Stevens in the UW College
of Business Department of Management and Marketing at (307) 766-3124 or e-mail rstevens@uwyo.edu.
