CSU, Chico Entrepreneurship Students Advance to Future Four & More Competition

Richard Davis presents his business concept for a vertical farm to save space and water. 

Colusa Hall was packed on April 7 as 12 students competed for $1,000 worth of prizes at the Center for Entrepreneurship’s Business Concept Competition (BCC). Five distinguished alumni served as judges: Tim Brockway (’97), president and CEO of Asset Strategies Group; Aaron Colton (’82), founder, president and CEO of Integrated Communication Systems; Andrew March (’07), cofounder and CEO of MaWhee; Dean Marcoccia (’86), state government affairs and alliance development director of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; and Claudia Wentworth (’84), CEO and Co-Founder of Quick Mount PV. The judges were visiting as part of the College of Business’ Executives on Campus alumni event.

Entrepreneurship student Wyatt Hahn won first place with a prize of $500 and the chance to compete at the Future Four & More Competition for his business concept Upool, a carpool mobile application made exclusively for college students. Upool is currently being used by California State University, Chico students to make extra cash as they offer affordable carpooling services to students with similar class schedules.

“Winning the Business Concept Competition is an accomplishment I am very proud of and excited about,” said Hahn. “I intend to bring the same effort, dedication and energy when I face the student entrepreneurs from eight different campuses at the Future Four, which will be extremely valuable to the growth and further development of Upool as a company.”

The second place winner was cellular and molecular biology major Richard Davis with Verticopia Farms, a vertical farm designed to save water and space. Students Peter Matulich, a mechatronics engineering major, and Jeremy Payne, a business administration major, tied for third place. As the top two winners of the BCC, Hahn and Davis will compete against six other universities and two junior colleges to win the title at the Future Four & More Competition on Friday, April 22 in Colusa Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

“The Future Four & More will be our biggest competition yet. We are especially excited about the students coming from thousands of miles away to be here with us this year,” said Peter Straus, the director for the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Kelsey Taylor Horne
College of Business
530-898-4255
bus@csuchico.edu 

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