Every summer students from UNI, Iowa State, University of Iowa, Buena Vista, and Iowa Lakes Community College attend the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute held August 5-10th at Iowa Lakeside Labs. OEI is a week-long opportunity to grow as an entrepreneur and this year TJ Nissen of Network Nirvana placed second in the pitch competition and won $400. Emily Teymeyer, JPEC Program Assistant, and her team took first place in the blue universe. All of the students were inspired by the experience and are grateful to the Okoboji Community for welcoming Iowa students to their area for the past 13…
Kayla Kearns, a senior communications major, pitched her company Cool Aluminum Products, to a panel of judges to win $500. The company manufactures and installs window wells.
Kyle Coogler, T. J. Nissen, and Corey Behrens will compete at the state-level of the Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition for the chance to win $5,000. The three regional winners will compete in Des Moines against 12 other regional winners on April 20.
Kyle Coogler, UNI senior communications major and owner of Creo, a business in the JPEC's R. J. McElroy Student Business Incubator at UNI, has been selected as one of 25 national finalists for the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge which is sponsored by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas, and EIX.org, a non-profit online platform for entrepreneurship education.
UNI senior, TJ Nissen, owner of Network Nirvana, a business in the R. J. McElroy Student Business Incubator, was awarded the Grinnell State Bank (GBS) scholarship. The scholarship comes with a dedicated office for his business.
College students across the state of Iowa are invited to enter the Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition for the chance to win $5,000. The regional competition will take place at the local JPEC’s across the state and will continue on to the final round in Des Moines, IA. Students must submit a plan for a start-up business of their
choice by midnight on April 2nd and will be judged on the content, concept, and viability of their business idea.
Each year, eight students from UNI join 24 other students from The University of Iowa, Iowa State University, Buena Vista University, and Iowa Lakes Community College for OEI held in early August at Lake Okoboji.
A UNI senior, who is a member of the JPEC program, won first place at the regional elevator pitch competition held at UNI and advanced onto the National Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization (CEO) Conference’s pitch competition from October 26-28 in Tampa, Florida. Kayla Kearns, a communications major from Clear Lake, Iowa, competed for $3,500 at the national competition.
Three UNI student businesses will be advancing to the state level in the Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition including AdFLY, Network Nirvana, and LOCAD.
