After a year break due to Covid-19, the Obokoji Entrepreneurial Institute (OEI) was back for the week-long event. Bringing together over 30 students from five institutes - University of Northern Iowa, University of Iowa, Iowa State University, Iowa Lakes Community College, and Buena Vista University, participants were immersed into an intense entrepreneurship program that is unmatched by any other in the state.
The Summer 2021 Early Founder’s Program wrapped up their third summer cohort. Consisting of eight student teams, the program ran through the months of June and July in a virtual setting. The EFP was led by former JPEC tenant and program assistant, Maddie Palmersheim,“The Early Founder’s Program is an opportunity for student ventures to take a deep dive into their business. Whether they are validating a concept, testing their model, or growing their venture, the program connects them to a variety of opportunities and mentors to get them to their next level.”
On Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23, 2021, Maddie Palmersheim (senior) and Grace Hartnett (senior) represented UNI at e-Fest hosted by the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship. e-Fest was an online competition that consisted of a pitch competition and the Schulze Innovation Challenge that awarded participants with over $215k in prize money.
A group of aspiring entrepreneurs from University of Northern Iowa will be among 25 teams vying for $215,000 this week at a national competition looking for the next big idea.
Virgo is competing this week at e-Fest, a virtual event being hosted by the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
On Thursday, April 15 the College of Business Administration held their annual Leadership Awards Ceremony. At the event, the UNI JPEC awarded two graduating student entrepreneurs who have excelled at our center.
A new start-up by a University of Northern Iowa senior is rethinking the gig economy, a fast-growing sector that now involves about one-third of U.S. workers.
Rosie Daniels' dream of owning a business started in her basement in the summer of 2019.
Now, less than two years later, the natural hair- and skin-care products from her business, LuLit’s Hair Essence, are on the shelves of Hy-Vee, and she credits a community business accelerator that had assistance from the University of Northern Iowa with helping her get there.
A.J. Reding, Nathan Anderson, Xavier Washington, and Imani Reed met when participating in the SHIPHT Entrepreneurial Discovery Series at the University of Northern Iowa. Now known as the executive team for YOU & I Care, their mission was to create a project that would help the community. Wanting to make mental health help more accessible and cheaper, they came up with a unique idea that asks people to simply listen.
On January 8, The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) announced the 2021 winners of the Entrepreneurship Experiential Exercises (3E) Competition during the organization’s USASBE 2021: Be Boldly Unscripted annual conference.
UNI students competed for $2000 in awards at the Annual UNI Entrepreneurs Elevator Pitch Competition. The 2020 competition took place on Tuesday, November 3rd at the Business & Community Services Building. There were two different competitions that the entrepreneurs could compete in: Ideation and Revenue. Ideation are students with business ideas that are in the early stages of development and have yet to earn revenue. Students in the Revenue competition have existing businesses and are making money. Each student had just 90 seconds to explain their business ideas to a panel of judges.
