UWs Casper Start

Five finalists have been named in the Casper Start-Up Challenge, now in its third year of competition and with another $50,000 fund to seed Casper startup businesses.

The challenge is sponsored by the Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC), a business development program of the University of Wyoming with business incubators in Laramie, Casper and Sheridan. Administered by the UW Office of Research and Economic Development, the WTBC is a not-for-profit business incubator that provides entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools necessary for success.

“Every year, the applicants to the Start-Up Challenge get better and better,” says Jerad Stack, director of the Casper Area WTBC. “Just narrowing down to our 10 semifinalists was difficult, and we are really excited to introduce the community to our five finalists.”

“The energy, passion and commitment demonstrated by all the semifinalists was infectious,” says Charles Walsh, CEO of Casper Area Economic Development Alliance (CAEDA)/Forward Casper, who served as one of the judges. “Casper clearly has the entrepreneurial spirit, ideas and motivation to diversify the local economy if given the chance.”

The businesses and entrepreneurs, all from the Casper area, named finalists for the 2018 Casper Start-Up Challenge are:

-- Barnwood Bros., Adam Jackson.

-- 307 Kitchen, Cassandra Baker and Jamie Purcell.

-- Livestock Wx, Chad McNutt.

-- Simple Injection, Matt Kull.

-- Wyoming Gear Builders, Cameron Siplon.

The finalists will work with WTBC staff and mentors from the community to develop their business plans over the next two months, culminating in a final pitch day scheduled Nov. 15 at The Lyric, located at 230 W. Yellowstone in Casper.

Three winners will be selected by a panel of judges. Each will receive $5,000; one year of free rent at the WTBC; and be eligible to apply for the $50,000 seed fund. Pitch day is open to the public.

The Casper Start-Up Challenge is made possible through sponsorships from: CAEDA/Forward Casper, the John P. Ellbogen Foundation, Oil City News, First Interstate Bank and WIDC Frontier CDC.

For more information about the Casper Start-Up Challenge, call Stack at (307) 315-6401 or email jstack@uwyo.edu.