Students from 10 universities and colleges in Utah are each closer to starting their businesses after winning Opportunity Quest competitions sponsored by Zions Bank recently.
Opportunity Quest is an executive summary competition held between November and February each year. Zion Bank sponsors the Opportunity Quest competitions held at 10 universities and colleges across the state. This year, over 600 students participated in Opportunity Quest to win cash prizes ranging from $500 to $5,000 to kick-start their businesses.
Weber State University had 102 student participants, Snow College had 57, LDS Business College had 63, Dixie State had 33, Utah Valley University, had 33, Westminster had 72, Southern Utah University had18, Utah State University had 87, Salt Lake Community College had 18 and The University of Utah had 120.
After competing in Southern Utah University’s Opportunity Quest competition, student Mark Miller said, “It’s a great opportunity for average students to share their business ideas.”
Winners of the Opportunity Quest competitions automatically place within the top 30 semi-finalists in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, a statewide business plan competition.
Opportunity Quest and the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge are managed by the Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Center at the University of Utah and sponsored by Zions Bank. Hundreds of University and college students participate in competitions, which awards cash and in-kind prizes to student entrepreneurs every year. For more information, visit the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge online at: www.uec.utah.edu.
Opportunity Quest winners 2010-11
- Weber State University — Corporate Group Buy, Jordan Avner.
- Snow College — Paco’s, Nate Christensen.
- LDS Business College — Little Snoozer, Jason Streiff.
- Dixie State — Walk’ n’ Roll, Brady Dunkley.
- Utah Valley University — Cup Ad, Caleb Light.
- Westminster — Massox, Jeff Bischoff.
- Southern Utah University — Threadbare, Daniel Hermanson & Hyrum Mertlich.
- Utah State University — iMicroInvest, Sterling Morris.
- Salt Lake Community College — iCuff, Adam Ericksen.
- University of Utah — Partshed.
