Young entrepreneurs on the move at UW-Whitewater

December 02, 2011

After spending countless hours discovering ways to develop new businesses, students in UW-Whitewater's Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization earned top awards during their national conference in Dallas.

Competing against students from more than 235 chapters, Warhawks brought home three distinct honors: first place for best chapter business plan, first place for best in-person networking event, and second place for best fundraising idea.

Justin Nothem, a senior, captured the People's Choice Award, which is given by the audience, and won second place in the National Elevator Pitch Contest.  His 90-second speech to a panel of entrepreneurs described his business idea for College Dogs, a low-cost hot dog vending franchise for college students.

UW-Whitewater's CEO chapter is made up of about 40 students, many of whom have successfully started their own businesses. Among the student enterprises are Peer to Connect, a tutoring, text-editing, and translation service for international students, and MacBros, which repairs Mac computers and resells them.

"Our agenda is educational and they are able to develop their ideas," said William Dougan, UW-Whitewater management professor and adviser for UW-Whitewater's CEO chapter.

UW-Whitewater's excellence at the Dallas conference prompted an invitation from national CEO for Dougan and two students to join an entrepreneurship event at the White House in late November.

CEO is open to students in all majors. For more information, see www.uwwceo.org.