Published May 14, 2025
By Micaela Myers
The new UW chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization will foster connections, creativity and learning.
The nonprofit Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization was founded in 1983. Currently, through more than 250 college chapters, it supports 16,500-plus emerging entrepreneurs annually with idea bootcamps, a distinguished speaker series, pitch competitions, regional and global conferences and more.
However, the University of Wyoming didn’t have a Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) chapter until this year, when Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Director Robert Macy helped launch the club.
One motivation for starting the club, he says, is to get students from different majors together.
“A lot of undergraduate businesses will start because a couple of students have stumbled into each other,” he says. “One may have an idea but not know how to do the finance stuff. When you get students together who have different interests and backgrounds, that’s when you get the best collision of ideas for getting companies going.”
The club meets twice a month, with dinner provided. There is time for students to talk and socialize, plus educational talks and guest speakers. This format allows students in busy majors such as engineering, who may not be able to easily take entrepreneurship classes, to join in and network.
“Previously, there wasn’t an entrepreneurship or innovation type of club on campus,” Macy says. “I chose to partner with CEO because they have a strong track record, a great deal of materials and programs, and a quality annual conference. We’ll be sending a group of students to the conference this November in Florida.”
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s faculty fellows, who you can read about on page 54, help spread the word and recruit students from across all colleges to the club. There will be one fellow from each college, and these fellows also will help with club programming.
“My aim is to recruit at least 100 students to the club and get them all talking and working because it’s important to get a critical mass,” Macy says.
The center’s intern, Venture MBA student Thayne Thatcher of Laramie is helping launch the club.
“I envision a place where entrepreneurs can come together and talk,” he says. “I know for me personally, when I talk to other entrepreneurs, it motivates me and keeps me going. I like learning from other people’s mistakes and successes.”
Thatcher says that, because entrepreneurs must wear many hats, the CEO club also will partner with other clubs, such as the finance and ethics clubs. Members will help drive the club’s direction.
Thatcher has launched a couple of businesses himself, including one creating materials for social media influencers and a second selling 3D printed items such as chess sets, vases and cutting boards out of Laramie’s Bent and Rusty basement, where local makers sell their wares.
Macy says that the main aim of the new CEO club is to help students think entrepreneurially. As students learn about the offerings available, one initiative feeds into the other. For example, Macy is teaching an innovation consulting class this spring (see page 50). Students from the class can participate in the club, and students in the club can learn about entrepreneurial course offerings.
One of the club’s first guest speakers was stuntman, entrepreneur and University of Central Florida faculty member Ray Eddy. Eddy’s background includes running the band camp company Superior Marching Band Enterprises Inc. for 20 years, performing as Indiana Jones in the “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” at Walt Disney World and launching Lost Coven Films LLC. At the University of Central Florida, he teaches in the integrated business program.
Macy also brought in the two content creators who produce “Grinding Gear,” a video-game-focused YouTube and podcast series. They gave talks on how to turn a hobby into a business and produced an episode of their show on campus.
“I want to keep it fun,” Macy says.
During club meetings, he and other experts on campus will also give short talks on pertinent topics. The club fills in a missing piece of the puzzle as UW continues to grow its entrepreneurial ecosystem across campus and around the state.
Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization
This fall, UW will send its first cohort of students to the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s 42nd annual Global Conference and Pitch Competition in sunny Tampa, Fla. The conference welcomes CEO members, partners, investors and seasoned business mentors. Young entrepreneurs will learn from more than 65 renowned experts and nearly a dozen keynote speakers. They will also compete for a $20,000 prize pool as part of the annual pitch competition. Learn more at www.c-e-o.org.
