STEPPING INTO THE ARENA

Fenworks, a company led by UND alumni and current students, is paving the way in the esports education industry.

Electric is the only word to describe the energy of 400 esports-enthusiasts pouring into the Alerus Center in April 2022. Roughly 150 students gathered to compete in what national-level administrators later called ‘one of the best K through 12 esports tournaments they had ever seen.’

“Right here in Grand Forks,” Kaleb Dschaak says with pride.

Dschaak, a 2020 Marketing and Political Science graduate of UND, is the founder and CEO of Fenworks, an emerging education company and the host of this state tournament.

The inspiration for Fenworks originated during his tenure at UND. His role as UND Student Body Vice President lent unique insight into the needs of educators and students.

“It was a pivotal experience to connect all of the elements in the educational systems, listen to decision-makers, and engage in important dialogues about technology-related skill development and mental health,” says Dschaak.

So when one educator reached out to him, saying, “We’re really struggling to start a young esports program. Can you help us?” Dschaak took action. Through the UND Wellness Center, he began an esports program with three hundred K-12 students from local school districts.

A snowball effect ensued, supported by Dschaak’s mentors, Delore Zimmerman and Don Morton. “It slowly built over time into what you see today with more than fifteen employees and a ton of growth, customers, and success that is creating an excellent experience for students,” says Dschaak.

Fenworks now coordinates with over 30 school districts to start, manage, and effectively run esports programs. The company trains coaches provided by the school to seamlessly lead competitions for students. “We do what a lot of state organizations do for other school activities,” explains Dschaak. “We serve as the backbone to make those activities successful.”

Not limited to esports, Fenworks builds a variety of products to help students learn, develop, and grow both inside and outside of the classroom.

Grace Wagner, Carter Anderson, Kaleb Dschaak, and Robert Whiting

“You look at these in-demand jobs that we have no pipeline to fill, you listen to state decision-makers who say that we struggle to push students into these pathways. Partially, it is because we don’t give them a way to connect on a passion level,” explains Dschaak.

“We have no way to incentivize, encourage, or get kids excited about signing up for computer science or drone classes, but when you have an activity where you’re competing and making friends and having fun, now you have that incentivization factor and we’re going to see it continue to yield dividends.”

Fenworks measures its performance through surveys, which have shown customer satisfaction rates as high as 95%. Along with levels of program adoption, the company also tracks the students’ success after their participation in the program.

While only two years into operation, numerous alumni of the NCoBPA have already joined the Fenworks team. Among them is Carter Anderson, who graduated in 2020 with majors in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

A lifelong gamer and the Esports Director for Fenworks, Anderson has recognized the surprisingly positive influence of esports on children. He notes, “Gaming has a bad stigma in our society. However, it is entirely based on coordination of players, so my ability to communicate and strategize has actually improved as a result.”

In his current role, Anderson has noticed the impact of the company’s programs on students’ academic performance.

“We had a school in our program at the beginning of the year with 10 students who wanted to participate, but did not meet the required minimum GPA,” says Anderson. The school informed Fenworks that the students were working tirelessly to improve their grades. Before the esports season started, all 10 students became eligible.

Dschaak adds, “We see our services and products deployed to both our really high performers in the classroom and our students who don’t perform as well. We have neurodivergent students who thrive in our programming and Fenworks gives them an opportunity to be in the spotlight when many have never had that opportunity before. They’ve never stepped into the arena.”

According to Fenworks data, as many as 80% of the students in the esports program had never previously been involved in a school activity.

This is only one reason UND students are flooding to work for Fenworks. The company recently received the Grow Grand, Best Place to Work Award from the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals association.

With more than two-thirds of its workforce consisting of UND alumni or current students, Dschaak says, “Fenworks is a great opportunity for people who want to be a part of building something.”

Anderson adds, even as recent college graduates, he and his coworkers are given the chance to develop their own departments and lead the charge in a growing industry.

Similar sentiments are echoed by Robert Whiting, the CFO of Fenworks. Majoring in Finance at UND, he describes the opportunity to raise capital at a young age as “a rare and tremendous growth opportunity.”

Whiting draws on his experiences and connections from Dakota Venture Group, a student-run venture capital organization at UND, to guide his decision-making. He also regards many NCoBPA faculty members as mentors.

“I have received immense support from Ken Bulie, my Business Law professor and our company’s SCORE mentor, as well as Robert Pawlewicz, my former Intermediate Accounting professor, and local business leaders like Bruce Gjovig, Phil Gisi, and Landon Bahl.” Whiting says, “Having a network of people who have been in my shoes before has been invaluable.”

Anderson and Grace Wagner, the Marketing Director for Fenworks and a 2022 Marketing graduate, equally benefited from their UND education. Anderson’s position at Fenworks was the perfect post-graduate combination of his interests in marketing and entrepreneurship. Wagner, on the other hand, began working for the company before graduation and enjoyed applying ideas from her marketing coursework directly to real-world projects in social media, graphic design, website development, and general market research.

For Dschaak, the network he gained from UND and the Grand Forks community was invaluable. “Many of the teachers and administrators who use our products are UND graduates, so continuing to develop those close relationships through UND is really important to us.” He emphasizes, “There’s just so much connection.”

And connection is exactly why Dschaak chose to keep his business in North Dakota. “The fact is we were not just a number by remaining in Grand Forks and maintaining our partnership with the University. Our employees have laid down roots here. Staying connected to the community has had numerous benefits and hopefully we can see those carry on.”

Whiting eagerly looks toward the future as new opportunities steadily arise. “We are closing our first seed round and will begin a new round soon. We’re also initiating employee stock options, so all of us will have ownership in the company. We’re looking to continue to add schools and students that are passionate about esports. And we are always looking to connect with school leaders across the midwest.”

As Fenworks continues to grow, Whiting can’t wait to hire more UND grads and expand nationally within the five-year spectrum.

“From the highest level,” says Dschaak, “our objective is to continue providing great opportunities for students to get involved. We are constantly developing new partnerships and building new intellectual property, so that we can engage students in ways they’ve never been before. That’s our number one focus and that means growing our programs, bringing more people to the table, and beginning to shift the culture.”

The recent esports state tournament underscored the potential for Fenworks, but more importantly for students.

Anderson and Josh Bitterman, an Esports Program Coordinator, designed every aspect of the tournament, from drone cages and virtual reality to cornhole and old arcade games.

“We had more activities than you could imagine,” says Dschaak.

Organizations throughout the community came together in a combined effort. UND alumni and friends from HB and the Alerus Center brought Anderson and Bitterman’s dreams on paper to life. Meanwhile, UND was the tournament’s primary sponsor, led by Meloney Linder’s Marketing & Communications office.

Whiting says the event demonstrated that “we care about our customers; we care about providing the best experience possible for students. The people there saw what Fenworks is all about.”

“I’m personally not a huge gamer,” Wagner admitted, “but the state tournament really put into perspective how what we’re doing affects these students, these parents, and the entire community. Watching the kids feel like they belong was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Dschaak recalls, “As everyone was leaving just the ceremony — the energy, the games, hearing the parents and grandparents cheer — there was a huge source of pride. We listened to the kids talk about the experience and this was clearly life-changing for them. This was their moment. Some of those kids didn’t get that until their senior year of high school at our first esports tournament. Because of that, we’re going to keep getting bigger, we’re going to keep getting better, and we’re going to keep providing a great opportunity for these kids.”