The annual Student Entrepreneur of the Year contest has always been one of excitement and eager anticipation. With a record number of twenty-six applicants, this year was no different. Ranging from lawn aeration to online retail to handmade watches, these student-owned and operated businesses vied for $20,000 in prize money and an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii. Ten semi-finalists were selected by ACE and then interviewed by successful entrepreneurs, who narrowed them down to five finalists. In the presence of Center founders and fellow students, these five finalists offered ten-minute presentations, including a Q&A session in which founders asked for more specific details of their business.

Justin Kent from Salem, Oregon, began a business called UniGlass, which specializes in handling the insurance billing for businesses offering free rock chip repair. His business consists of a call center that automotive repair shops such as Jiffy Lube contact to take care of rock chip repair insurance matters. By offering this service, the rock chip repair time is reduced from 15-20 minutes to five minutes, resulting in increased satisfaction by all involved parties.

Steven Price of San Jose, California, runs Boonababe.com, an online store selling high-end women’s jeans. By selling overproduced and last season’s jeans, he is able to sell this self-promoting merchandise for 30-40% less than MSRP. His business is gaining exposure in international markets and Steven takes advantage of the international lag in fashion to increase sales there. Regarding his business, he said, "We’ve had a blessing, we’ve been touched. It’s been a great experience for my family and I."

Brant Walker from Portland, Oregon presented his tree brokering and Airpot® retail company called Tree Amigos. Though he began selling trees by talking with individual landscapers, he has expanded his business to tree sales and being an exclusive distributor of Airpots®, a Scotland based technology resulting in better root growth. He hopes to extend sales into China in the near future. Brant also is co-owner of Kid Concepts, which personalizes songs and books for children.

Jedda Whetten of Orem began a dance supply store and dance studio specializing in percussive dance forms. The studio, Elite Dance, teaches Clogging, Irish Step Dance, and RhythmDance, a dance form she developed herself. With students ranging from 3 to 18 years of age, Jedda emphasizes the importance of discipline, dedication, sacrifice, and service and uses dance as a vehicle to promote those things. Her students look forward to competing in the Junior Olympics.

Stuart Farmer of Orem discovered outdoor cinema as a popular event in Europe and decided to promote it in the United States. Although his first few attempts were not particularly successful, Stuart said "I couldn’t give up on the opportunity." With Open Air Cinema, he uses an air screen to provide a professional audio/video experience outdoors, similar to a drive-in, and targets municipalities, companies, schools and amusement parks. He emphasized the value of trusting and rewarding employees to build loyalty within a company.

As pressure mounted and thoughts of Hawaii floated in everyone’s mind, Don Livingstone (the Center director) announced that there was a tie for first place. After quick deliberation, the Founders agreed to have two winners and pay for them both to go to Hawaii. All receiving $2500, Steven Price with Boonababe Clothing, Inc. won fifth place, fourth place went to Stuart Farmer with Open Air Cinema, and Jedda Whetten with Elite Dance walked away with third place. First place was shared with Justin Kent of UniGlass and Brant Walker of Tree Amigos, who received $6250 and will enjoy a trip to Hawaii in January. The Center congratulates this year’s winners and looks forward to an even bigger event next year.

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