2015 SEOY Continues To Showcase Great Entrepreneurs

PROVO, Utah – Mar 19, 2015 – Driven student entrepreneurs competed for the title of 2015 Student Entrepreneur of the Year sponsored by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology and the Entrepreneurship Club.

“I’m amazed at the quality of the entrepreneurs and their companies,” says James Endicott, a Rollins Center founder and Entrepreneurship Club advisor. “Each year, the businesses keep getting better and better. It was a tight race between the top three companies led by great entrepreneurs.”

The competition welcomes participants whose companies are less than five years old and were started while their founders were enrolled full-time at BYU.

Skyler Carr of Discovery Simulations took home the first place prize of $7,500 and the title of Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Discovery Simulations is an integrated school simulator program focused on helping students internalize what they learn about science, technology, engineering and math.

“I was just floored; so excited that I won. Discovery Simulations is something that can really make a difference in the world,” says Carr, an April 2014 entrepreneurship graduate from Orem, Utah, who went from an SEOY audience member in past years to winning it all.

Christopher Wilms of Provo-based candy and soda shop Pop’n Sweets came in second place and received $4,500. Ross Hruska of Hruska’s Kolaches, a Czech pastry shop, took third place and $2,500 in prize money to round out the top three companies.

Five more companies received cash awards in the event. Nate Middleton of women’s clothing store Piper and Scoot not only won $500 but also took home the $500 Audience Choice Award. Dig It! Volleyball Club’s Marshall Kinnison, Kapshare’s Sam Nelson, Derek Johnson of Cowboy Donuts and Marina Pimentel of Zero Proof Mocktails also each won $500.

Recent participants of SEOY include Derek Rowley of FiberFix and Garrett Aida of Dark Energy. The CET hopes the events it hosts will provide encouragement and motivation for budding entrepreneurs. The annual competition is proof that students can start successful business while pursuing a college education.

“I hope they learned that they’re never too young and it’s never too early to start a business,” Endicott says. “It isn’t pass or fail. Their work doesn’t end when businesses fall short. It’s a constant journey.”

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems and public management. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.