2022 FOWLER COMPETITIONS
INSIDE
ABOUT THE FOWLER COMPETITIONS
FBCC FINALIST PROFILES
FOWLER BCC IN THE NEWSROOM
FBCC IMPACT & FINANCIALS
FGSIC AT ST.THOMAS
FGSIC FINALIST PROFILES
FGSIC MAKES IN-PERSON DEBUT
2022 GLOBAL FINALS
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ABOUT
FOWLER BUSINESS CONCEPT CHALLENGE Named after alumnus and benefactor Ron Fowler '66, the Fowler Business Concept Challenge (FBCC) ignites the entrepreneurial spirit of students across the St. Thomas campus. Competitors explore the entrepreneurial process by developing a concept with the potential to become a viable, high-growth business. The top 32 semifinalist teams across two tracks (business and social venture) compete in a semifinal round, with four teams from each track advancing to the finals where they compete for $62,000 in scholarships. Each semifinalist wins a minimum of $1,000 in scholarships, while the first-place finishers in the business and social venture tracks win $15,000.
FOWLER GLOBAL SOCIAL INNOVATION CHALLENGE Powered by the University of San Diego and the University of St. Thomas, the Fowler GSIC inspires student entrepreneurs around the world to engage with one or more of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to create business solutions to global issues. Since 2011, the Challenge has connected over 2,500 students from 25 countries worldwide - including Australia, South Korea, Rwanda, Ireland, Mexico, and Peru - recognizing their outstanding social ventures based on positive impact and financial sustainability. To date, $675,000 has been distributed to seed the most innovative and promising global ventures.
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FOWLER BUSINESS CONCEPT CHALLENGE
BUSINESS TRACK WINNER PROFILES Business Track entries focus on traditional commercial or service-oriented ventures, which are typically for-profits organized in B2B, B2C, or tech-based business models. Submissions must articulate how a concept contributes to the common good.
PRINT3D PARADISE
ROBO-REF
WINNER ($15,000)
RUNNER-UP ($7,500)
Print3D Paradise homes are concrete 3D-printed vacation rental homes located close to national parks where hospitality options are very limited.
Robo-Ref is a sideline robot referee for soccer using sensors on a player's jersey and a camera above the pitch to monitor the player's position on the pitch and alert the center, human referees, about offsides.
Brady Gruenhagen (entrepreneurship and real estate studies), and Cory Kaisersatt (entrepreneurship and finance)
Nathaniel Charles (entrepreneurship)
HOM SERVICES
NECK CORRECTOR
SECOND RUNNER-UP ($5,000)
THIRD RUNNER-UP ($2,500) & MOST EFFECTIVE PRESENTER ($1,000)
HOM Services provides homeowners with the necessary resources and structured property management needed in a timely manner, bestowing knowledge, reducing stress, and saving valuable time.
Evan Braaten (entrepreneurship)
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Neck Corrector is a strip meant to go on a person’s upper back and neck to reverse the effects and prevent text neck.
Henry Glennon (finance), and Maxwell Karas (entrepreneurship)
FOWLER BUSINESS CONCEPT CHALLENGE
SOCIAL TRACK WINNER PROFILES Social Track concepts focus on solutions to significant social or environmental problems using a for-profit, non-profit or hybrid model. Emphasis is placed on the potential social impact of a concept and proposed measures of success.
UWELL
FOOD TO PEOPLE
WINNER ($15,000)
RUNNER-UP ($7,500) & MOST EFFECTIVE PRESENTER ($1,000)
UWell is a comprehensive software application adopted by universities aiming to increase mental health awareness. Using complex data analysis, UWell takes a personal approach to each student.
Food to People is a food waste-eliminating system serving underprivileged communities and universities.
Chloe Ginkel (entrepreneurship)
Chaz Nelson (entrepreneurship) and William Pittner (entrepreneurship)
OASIS
SOFASSISTANT
SECOND RUNNER-UP ($5,000)
THIRD RUNNER-UP ($2,500)
Oasis takes desert land in Nevada and turns it into prime ground to produce algal biomass, revitalizing uninhabitable and unusable land by giving it an environmental purpose.
SOFAssistant is an app that helps students from around the world apply to universities abroad, helping underprivileged students by providing a detailed stepby-step application plan.
Delila Gonyea (entrepreneurship), Xander Smaby (entrepreneurship and finance)
Georges Macheta (entrepreneurship and computer science) and Regina Talavera (entrepreneurship)
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IN THEIR OWN WORDS
The Fowler Business Concept Challenge brings a level of excitement to entrepreneurship that is truly amazing. Throughout the competition members of the entrepreneurship community would come up and ask questions and share advice for our concept with tremendous enthusiasm for our team and our idea. The Fowler Business Concept Challenge is an incubator for excitement and the most impactful experience I have had at the University of St. Thomas!
Brady Gruenhagen ‘23, Entrepreneurship and Real Estate
I have two key learnings from the Fowler Business Concept Challenge. The first is the importance of preparation. If you want to succeed at anything in life, preparation is the key. This is something that has transferred into many different areas of my life. The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare. The second is the sooner you start on something, the better off you will be. Get up and off the ground running as fast as possible. In most cases, learning is multiplicative and snowballs so the sooner you get started the more you will be able to learn.
Cory Kaisersatt ‘23, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Minor in Data Analytics
Being able to pitch to business leaders to hear constructive feedback and engage in the entrepreneurial process has helped prepare me to be a successful entrepreneur. You spend several weeks finding the problem you want to solve, formulating a solution to add value to someone who experiences that problem, and learning how to execute your idea. Nothing compares to being able to share your idea with mentors and judges to learn how to bring your concept to reality.
David Shipp ‘23, Entrepreneurship, Marketing Management, and Business Economics
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IN THE NEWS Entrepreneurial Ambition: Fowler Business Concept Challenge Returns Excerpt from November 15, 2021, St.Thomas Newsroom article by Brant Skogrand ‘04 MBC
Cory Kaisersatt and Brady Gruenhagen with President Julie Sullivan and Associate Dean of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship Laura Dunham after accepting their $15,000 scholarship during the Fowler Business Concept Challenge. Picture by Liam James Doyle/University of St. Thomas
The entrepreneurial spirit of St. Thomas was on full display in person at Anderson Student Center Nov. 12, when students competed for $86,000 in scholarships by presenting creative business ideas at the Fowler Business Concept Challenge. Ideas ranged from a program to alleviate hunger in the Twin Cities to a sideline robot referee for soccer. Students representing 23 majors competed in either the business concept or social venture track. With 66 students submitting 45 business ideas, the top 32 teams competed in the morning semifinals, with the top four teams from each track advancing to the finals in the afternoon. Sophomore Chloe Ginkel received a $15,000 scholarship for winning the social venture track with UWell, a mental health software app. Ginkel's idea for the app was in honor of a high school classmate who committed suicide. "I’m talking about a huge social challenge that needs to be addressed – mental health,” Ginkel said. “[The Fowler Business Concept Challenge] put into perspective for me the mission that I’m trying to accomplish – giving a voice to the millions of students who are suffering from mental illness.” In the business track, juniors Brady Gruenhagen and Cory Kaisersatt took home top honors and a $15,000 scholarship for Print3D Paradise. Their concept involves having unique land and vacation rentals in one package. The land would be located close to national parks; the rental facilities would be 3D- printed. The two competed in the challenge last year, but with other concepts on different teams in the social venture track. “I have learned how to portray my ideas in an effective way and how to build excitement around an idea,” Gruenhagen said.
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IMPACT AND FINANCIALS
2019
78
BY THE NUMBERS 2020
STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
$84,000 AWARDED
104
2021
STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
66
$87,000 AWARDED
STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
$86,000 AWARDED
PREDOMINANT AREAS OF STUDY REPRESENTED IN THE 2021 FBCC
ACCOUNTING 4.5%
Overall, participants represented 23 programs
FINANCE 17.9%
REAL ESTATE 7.5% COMPUTER SCIENCE 4%
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP 61.7%
IN SCHOLARSHIPS
IMPACT AND FINANCIALS
45
SUBMISSIONS
66
76
STUDENTS ENGAGED
JUDGES AND ONLINE REVIEWERS
23
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS REPRESENTED
28.5
MENTORING HOURS
$86,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS
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We had the memorable opportunity of hosting the Fowler GSIC campus finals in person for the first time since launching the program in 2019. This year’s innovations ran the gamut from solutions that tackle problems of the housing crises here in Minneapolis to homelessness and food security in Cambodia. After an initial online round, two groups of four finalist teams were shortlisted to pitch concurrently in separate rooms to a panel of judges. Winners in both rooms took home $3,000 each, runners-up claimed $2,000, and the best presenting teams took home $500 each. Teams Econ and UWell placed first in their rooms, winning the honor of becoming this year’s Global Finalist teams to represent St.Thomas at the Finals. In addition to an all-expenses-paid trip to San Diego, the top two teams competed for a share of an additional seed funding pool of $75,000 at the June Finale. Learn more about this year’s impressive cohort and the results of the Global Finals in the coming pages.
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MEET THE TEAMS
GLOBAL FINALIST
GLOBAL FINALIST
ECON HABITAT PROJECT
UWELL
The ECON Habitat Project is a housing development company out of Minneapolis, and we work to provide renewable ecofriendly low-income housing for families in need. We transform used shipping containers, that may have only seen one journey across the ocean and turn them into beautiful and modernly designed houses. These houses are faster and cheaper to build than current houses leading to a larger impact.
UWell is a comprehensive app for university students that offers resources, education, and connection unique to their specific mental health needs. It focuses on deep personalization and building mental wellness in the daily lives of college students.
Xander Smaby (entrepreneurship and finance), Delila Gonyea (entrepreneurship), Erik Anderson (entrepreneurship and real estate)
Chloe Ginkel (entrepreneurship), Carter Rieckhoff (entrepreneurship)
GLOBAL FINALIST & BEST PRESENTER, $3,500
GLOBAL FINALIST, $3,000
WEST METRO SOLUTIONS
CLEANAIR
West Metro Solutions LLC is a reused online office furniture store. Since our launch, in May of 2020, we have successfully kept 150,000 pounds of office furniture from the landfill and have provided furniture solutions for over 30 businesses across the Midwest.
Clean Air aims to provide necessary water vapor quality testing methods and a clean cooking system alternative, enabling access to sanitary cooking and living environments while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We plan to accomplish this mission by manufacturing novel miniature water vapor sensor systems and distributing low-cost fuelefficient cookstoves, financed through carbon credit sales, providing a safe and sanitary alternative cooking method to conventional open-fire cooking.
John Costello (entrepreneurship)
RUNNER-UP, $2,000
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Erik Anderson (entrepreneurship and real estate), Ben Frey (entrepreneurship, physics, and computer science)
RUNNER-UP, $2,000
FGSIC AT ST.THOMAS
LOCAL4LOCAL
FOOD TO PEOPLE
Local4Local is a youth-run food drive initiative that sustains jobs to cyclo drivers and provides key necessities to Cambodians in need. The nonprofit organization was launched in April 2021 by Hao Taing (‘22) and has reinvested nearly all donations received ($70,000) to help those in need. Local4Local is aimed at diminishing the struggles associated with homelessness and poverty while uplifting Cambodia’s creative community.
Food to People is a unique food recovery system that takes perfectly viable food from university kitchens, and properly redistributes it to local homeless shelters, food shelves, lowincome neighborhoods, and hungry children in our community. Food to People operates food trucks that maintain food at the proper health standards and funds the operation by socially involved corporations looking to make an impact on the local communities.
Hao Taing (operations and supply chain management), Jamie Tjornehoj (journalism and business administration)
William Pittner (entrepreneurship)
BEST PRESENTER, $500
2022 FINALIST
AFTERPAK
SALT
AfterPak is an eCommerce platform that aims to connect US consumers with the communities that are impacted by the materials they recycle. AfterPak aims to directly address three of the United Nation's Sustainability Development Goals Goals 11, 12, and 13. Let us work together in making your packaging become more than just trash.
Strategic Alliances Leading Transformation (SALT) provides critical and practical processes to assist managers, human resource professionals, and organizations in the pursuit of diverse talent acquisition. SALT will accommodate inclusion initiatives that build relationships and create jobs for people with disabilities. SALT helps clients remove barriers and invite people with disabilities into the corporate culture of encounter.
Merate Sahle (entrepreneurship and international business)
Shereen Bance (catholic studies)
2022 FINALIST
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2022 FINALIST
Run
IN THE NEWS Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge Makes In-Person Debut Excerpt from April 25, 2022, by Brant Skogrand ‘04 MBC
Amy Helgeson '22 (l) and Biel Wiel '22 emcee the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge awards ceremony on April 22. Picture by Mark Brown, University of St. Thomas
For the first time since it was launched in 2019, the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge (Fowler GSIC) Campus Finals were held in person. During the April 22 event on the Minneapolis campus, eight St. Thomas teams competed for $11,000 in cash prizes. The top two teams, UWell and ECON Habitat Project won an all-expenses-paid trip to San Diego, where they will compete in June at the Fowler GSIC Global Finals. In San Diego, the teams will vie for a share of an additional seed funding pool of $75,000. “All of this hard work over the past few months – pouring our heart and soul into this idea – has really been a journey and such a great learning process,” Rieckhoff said. “I can’t wait to continue that in San Diego.” Each team in the multi-round competition engaged with one or more of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, ranging from ending hunger by promoting sustainable agriculture to achieving gender equality, building resilient infrastructure, combating climate change, and providing access to justice for all. “In addition to being in person, what is energizing about this event is that these students are looking at the world outside of our four walls and are trying to grapple with pressing social problems using compassion, courage, and creativity,” Schulze School of Entrepreneurship Associate Dean Laura Dunham said. The eight teams at the Fowler GSIC Campus Finals included 15 students representing 10 majors across the university. Before the winners were announced, President Julie Sullivan spoke at the awards ceremony. “This is really about nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit within our students. It’s about cultivating their passion for making a difference in the world,” Sullivan said. “[This competition] is about giving them real-world experience of advancing the common good – real-world experience of change-making – which is in our DNA at St. Thomas.”
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2022 GLOBAL FINALS
It was back to the University of San Diego this year for the much-awaited in person Finals following a long two-year break. The 2022 hybrid event featured teams from 17 countries with 18 ventures winning a minimum of $1,000 in seed funding from a pool of more than $75,000. Our St. Thomas teams made us all proud on the global stage. ECON scored top honors by placing among the top 8 teams across the competition to win $2,000 in funding, and UWell joined nine other notable Idea Grant Winners with a win of $1,000 in seed funding.
2022 GLOBAL NETWORK
St. Thomas teams UWell and Econ at the 2022 Global Finals in San Diego
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IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Thanks to the Fowler Challenge, I can connect with like-minded student entrepreneurs that are change-makers in their respective fields. I am thankful to represent Local4Local and Cambodia in the Fowler Competition with Jamie. I am also grateful to the judges for sharing their valuable insights on the project. I am looking forward to exploring my passion for social entrepreneurship, and eventually sharing the experience of the competition with my peers in Cambodia to be a part of the competition in the future too.
Hao Taing ‘22, Operations, Supply Chain Management
When I joined the Fowler Concept Challenge in November 2021, I only had one idea, and a burning passion. I was undecided in my field of study and terrified no one would listen to me. Meeting the excellent judges, mentors and fellow competitors quickly turned into one of the best experiences of my life as I learned so much about myself and the inner workings of a startup. It has truly turned my passion into a career vision and has given me the voice I have been searching for to speak for mental health education and awareness.
Chloe Ginkel ‘22, Entrepreneurship
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IMPACT AND FINANCIALS
BY THE NUMBERS
$11,000
IN SEED FUNDING
16
MENTORS
10
3
MAJORS REPRESENTED
WORKSHOPS
17
ONLINE & FINALIST JUDGES
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15
ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING SESSIONS
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THANK YOU Ron & Alexis Fowler The Fowler Competitions are named in recognition of alumnus Ron Fowler ‘66, Chairman and CEO of Liquid Investments Inc., whose generous gifts to the University of St. Thomas have made these competitions and collaboration with the University of San Diego possible. We are immensely grateful to Ron and his wife Alexis for their continued generosity and passion for student entrepreneurs around the world. To all our 2022 mentors, judges, reviewers, and partners, it is your time, your passion, and expertise that makes this work so much more impactful! We’re grateful for you.
2022 SUPPORTERS Aaron Keller Adair Mosley Alec Johnson Amanda Baumgart Amanda Brinkman Ann Herzog Anne Hendrickson Ato Ulzen-Appiah Barry Johnson Bill Kelly Brad Von Bank Braden Erickson Bret Busse Brian Mark Brianna Herdering Bruce Nordin Cathie Madden Chris Muske Christina Brandt Clare Healy Damian Novak Daniel Shea Danielle Campeau Darin Lynch Dave Igel Dave St. Peter David Turnham Deborah Peters Diane Paterson Elaine Rasmussen Emily Pritchard
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Erin Newkirk Femi Odebiyi Frank Klisanich Greg Cash Greg Hennes Grover Jones Jack Cunningham Jack Dempsey Jamie Fischer Jasmin Branum Jasmine Jirele Jay Ebben Jazz Hampton Jeff Mattson Jeffrey Reisinger Jill Putman John Hutchinson John Wallace Jules Porter Katie Kalkman Katlyn Segrin Katrina Anderson Kenya McNight Kevin Bennet Kevin Jansen Kyle Andrews Laura Dunham Mark Zesbaugh Marko Zitzer Matt Geiser Matt Michalski
Megan Brenton Mike Kujak Mike Wuollet Mo Fahnestock Patrick Campbell Paul Taylor Peter Seidler Rachael Rinehart Rajiv Tandon Richard Andolshek Ron and Alexis Fowler Scott Baltes Shinwon Noh Stacey Jaeger Stephanie Lee Stephanie Sauer Sue Marshall Susan Johnson Susie Wuollet Tara O'Connor Ted Robb The Putman Family Tim Welle Timothy Yocum Tom Fletcher Tom Mahoney Tom Votel Tony Brausen Torrey Lau Tory Merhar
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