Robert Sales is no stranger to the limelight at the University of Northern Iowa. The Communication major was a fixture at UNI Panther football and basketball games selling doughnuts from his year-round concession stand, Rob’s Mini Donuts and in the halls mentoring other entrepreneurial students in the UNI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (UNI JPEC).
Robert Sales arrived at UNI knowing he wanted to be an entrepreneur.
The Pella native’s business instincts had been apparent since he was a first-grader who won a contract mowing vacant lots in his neighborhood. At UNI, Sales focused on the food industry, launching a food truck business and then, with help from professors and mentors, narrowed his focus to selling mini doughnuts.
University of Northern Iowa 2019 alumnus Jacob Smith and quantitative economics major Cole Wetzel have been selected as one of the Top 25 Finalist teams for the Schultz Entrepreneurship Challenge as part of e-Fest 2020, a three-day competition awarding a total of $250,000 in prize money.
UNI alumnus and entrepreneur Russell Karim's newest venture seeks to boost profitability and workers' salaries in apparel companies in his home country of Bangladesh.
Winner of the 2019 UNI Entrepreneurs Elevator Pitch Competition, Maddie Palmersheim, had the opportunity to attend the 2019 CEO (Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization) Global Conference and Pitch Competition. This conference was held in Tampa, Florida from October 31st to November 2nd.
On October 29th, North Iowa Area Community College’s Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center held the 2019 NIACC Pappajohn Center Entrepreneur Gala which recognized outstanding entrepreneurs in the area. One of the entrepreneurs recognized was UNI student, Samantha Schupanitz. She received special recognition of Student Entrepreneur of the Year for her business, Sami’s Sock Monkeys.
Maddie Palmersheim and Robert Sales, both UNI student entrepreneurs, attended this year’s Techstars Startup Weekend in Kansas City from September 20-22. The Techstars Startup Weekend is an immersive startup experience focused on hardware and product design that challenges teams to get feedback, make changes, and stay open to the idea of pivoting if a plan fails.
Ten UNI students competed in the 2019 UNI Entrepreneurs Elevator Pitch Competition. The competition was held in the Business & Community Services Building on Tuesday, October 15th. The students were split into two different categories, founders or idea generators, for competition depending on what stage their business was in. Founders already have an existing start up business and currently have revenue from either selling a product or providing a service. Idea Generators are in the very early stages of their business and have yet to earn revenue.
From the application process all the way to the final pitches, our founders have worked hard to make progress on their businesses. After battling through failures, successes and the overall stress that comes with starting a business, the founders were more than excited to share where their business is now and the journey of how they got there. They had that opportunity to share their story at Demo Day on August 2nd. Demo Day was a pitch completion and celebration of all that the founders had accomplished over the last nine weeks.
Students from UNI, Iowa State, University of Iowa, Buena Vista, and Iowa Lakes Community College got together for the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute which was held August 4-8th. At OEI, the students participate in entrepreneurial simulations and have the chance to network with fellow students and community members
