WE Help People Build Great Companies A N N UA L R E POR T 2020
The WT Enterprise Center Inspires Innovation & Supports Entrepreneur Development by providing community, mentorship, education and quality resources.
As you will see in this report, 2020 was a challenge, but it didn’t stop the WT Enterprise Center from providing resources for our clients. More importantly, it didn’t stop them from seeing growth in their businesses! Limitation can oftentimes breed innovation. Our entrepreneurs embodied this sentiment in 2020 by leveraging the pandemic to serve their customers in creative ways. We should all congratulate them on how well they navigated uncertain times and new regulations encountered as business owners, leaders, family members, and community members. On the other side of the pandemic, our community stepped up and showed their support for our local entrepreneurs by buying and eating locally. Our community mentors and partners didn’t skip a beat and jumped right in to help our clients as much as they could. We saw first-hand how much community matters in the sustainability of small businesses.
KYLA FRYE
Executive Director
ECONOMIC IMPACT TOTAL PAYROLL
$86,081,714 TOTAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT
64
BUSINESSES ASSISTED REPORTING
$13,700,337 TOTAL REVENUES
$246,322,997
74%
COMPANIES ASSISTED STILL IN BUSINESS
2063
PRIMARY JOBS
534
JOBS CREATED
STRATEGIC PLANNING TRAINING
COVID-19 RESOURCE WEBINARS
12 COMPANIES
210 PARTICIPANTS
KITCHEN USERS • Amarillo Sunset • Hope Springs Gourmet Crackers • Texas Lemonade • The Spice Gal
WT ENTERPRISE CENTER MEMBERS • AgStrata • AMA Ruby Slippers Care, Inc. • Aski Procurements • Beau-Ty Fire • Fortress Financial • Member Fitness
• Newell IT Services • Performance Cattle Company • R2M Engineering • SayKara • Skip’s Salsa • USA Land and Ranch Realty/Auctions
ENTREPRENEUR EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2020 Award Winners CLIENT OF THE YEAR
MENTOR OF THE YEAR
Lynsey Gabert, Kid’s Faith Krate
David Salas, Altura Engineering & Design
COWORKER OF THE YEAR Scott Williams
GOLDEN EGG AWARD 800 S. Polk, LLC
DON TAYLOR ENTREPRENEUR EXCELLENCE AWARD Mark Wingate, Maxivolt
REVOLUTION AT 800 Revolution at 800 Coworking Space, a program of the WT Enterprise Center, offers shared and private workspaces that drive productivity and connectivity. It’s revolutionizing the way we work, meet, train and host events in Amarillo.
REVOLUTION MEMBERS • Amarillo Court Reporting • Amy Burke • At Home Real Estate Company • BERA Brand Management • Cactus Creative • Citychurch • Colonial Life • Double Seven Wealth Group • Dream Designs TX/ProBuildings • Formstack • Freeman Wealth Management • Gregg Bliss, Architect
• Hayley Williams • HoneyBee Travel Agency • Josh Winegarner Congressional Campaign • jpegJoe Licensing, LLC • Palace Coffee Company • ProAg • Sueño + Co. • TDJ Contractors
GROWTH ACADEMY The Growth Academy is an 18-month, cohortbased, program led by certified coaches and community mentors. The foundation of this program is focused on real-time assessments of the business, growth benchmarks, entrepreneur trainings, mentor engagement and cohort roundtables. Each entrepreneur’s journey is tailored specifically to them and the needs they have.
GROWTH ACADEMY MEMBERS • Amarillo Snuff • Boyd’s Equipment • BTG Products • Huseman Consulting Engineers, LLC • Kid’s Faith Krate • Optimum Rope Access Solutions • Skip's Salsa • Skip’s Mix • Vitel Communications
CLIENTS IN 2020 • Ammons Companies, LLC • Napa Auto Parts - Parts Headquarters • Seewald Properties, LLC • Tascosa Advanced Solutions • Wind Tech Recruiters
WIRE Accelerator is bringing early-stage tech startups to Amarillo from across the United States. This WT Enterprise Center program supports growth-driven tech companies through coaching, mentorship, capital and utilizing the
53
APPLICATIONS
10 100
FINALISTS
strengths of the Texas Panhandle. WIRE supports the Amarillo community by championing Workforce opportunities, Innovation, Regional connectivity and Entrepreneurship through the
PITCH NIGHT ATTENDEES
4
accelerator program.
PARTICIPANTS
HOME LENDING PAL
Bryan Young, CEO
Jo Tyler and Paul Engler with David Schaeffer
MIKEL WILLIAMSON
Happy State Bank, CEO
PARTNERS
MENTORS
800 S. Polk, LLC
BRADEN BLACK KT Black Services
Amarillo Business Women Amarillo Chamber of Commerce Amarillo College Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) Amarillo ISD Amarillo National Bank Borger Economic Development Corp. Canyon ISD Economic Development Administration (EDA) FirstBank Southwest Global Accelerator Network (GAN) GrowthWheel Happy State Bank International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) International Economic Development Council (IEDC) The High Ground of Texas
JASON BOYETT Jason Boyett, LLC & Hey Amarillo Podcast LLOYD BROWN Smart Chemical Solutions DUSTY DOYLE Casey Carpet One COCO DUCKWORTH Encourage Consulting MARK GILBREATH Caprock Building Systems, LLC BILL GLOVER Global Giving JASON HERRICK Pantera Energy BARRETT LYNCH Waypoint Advisory Services JOHN MARMADUKE Community Leader and Investor
Leadership Amarillo & Canyon Ogalalla Commons Palo Duro Funds, Inc. Panhandle Regional Planning Commission (PRPC)
2020 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
State of Texas Texas A&M University Texas Agrilife Extension Texas Panhandle Regional Development Corp. (TPRDC) WTAMU Small Business Development Center (SBDC) West Texas A&M University
DAVID PRESCOTT, Chair Talon, LPE COCO DUCKWORTH Encourage Consulting CALLIE HOLTON Turn Center
DAVID TERRY Paul F. and Virginia J. Engler Foundation MARK WINGATE Maxivolt
JOHNNY MIZE Entrepreneur and Community Leader DAVID PRESCOTT Talon, LPE JEFF REID Community Leader ALAN RHODES Underwood Law Firm AARON SAGE Sage Oil Vac DAVID SALAS Altura Engineering & Design
MINDI McLAIN Wright Law TX, PLLC
DAVID SCHAEFFER Palo Duro Fund
AARON SAGE Sage Oil Vac
MARK WINGATE Maxivolt
STAFF
Dr. Amjad Abdullat
Kyla Frye
Brittny Lee
Program Director
Debbie Holmes
Brian Enevoldsen
Megan Stutz
Dean, Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business
Program Manager
Executive Director
Administrative Services Manager
Community Manager Revolution at 800
HOW TO GET INVOLVED With our vision and initiatives in mind, we are excited and prepared to lead the efforts of supporting entrepreneur development and inspire innovation in the Texas Panhandle. We invite you to take part in building the entrepreneur community and rally behind our mission to Help People Build Great Companies.
If you are interested in being part of the WT Enterprise Center community, there are several ways you can be involved:
1
Large businesses can be involved in supporting entrepreneur development and innovation in the region by partnering financially or through serving as industry expert mentors! Individuals can serve as mentors! Whether you love all things
2
innovation, are an experienced entrepreneur wanting to share insights or you have specific skillsets that you want to share with startups, apply to be a mentor.
3
If you are an investor looking for more opportunities, this is a great place for you! We have several opportunities for you to invest in entrepreneurs. Contact us to be added to our Investor List for specific content and news.
4
If you just love entrepreneurship and innovation and want to contribute by attending events and helping spread the word, we encourage you to apply for our Ambassador Program!
2300 N. Western Street | Amarillo, Texas 79124 (806) 374-9777 wtenterprisecenter.com