5th Annual “Meet ‘n Eat with an Entrepreneur”
introduces 9 area entrepreneurs to
UW-Platteville students & faculty members
Platteville WI – It was a full house at this year’s
5 annual Meet ‘n Eat with an Entrepreneur event held on Wednesday, October 1 at
the Nohr Art Gallery. The event featured an eclectic group of entrepreneurs, UWPlatteville alumni and UW System experts who shared their backgrounds and their
stories with some of the university’s most entrepreneurial-minded students and
faculty members.
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This year’s event featured Dr. Idella Yamben and Eric Steege who serve as Program
Managers at UW-Extension’s Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic
Development. They led the group through a high-energy idea development activity.
Students brainstormed together to identify an entrepreneurial opportunity along
with a market solution. A representative of each table then presented it to the
larger group in the form of an elevator pitch. Thomas Putnam, an Engineering
Physics student, pitched his team’s idea and won the judges’ vote for ‘best pitch’.
“The resources I’ve tapped into through the entrepreneurship program have been
extremely helpful in motivating me to continue pursing my ideas. Recognizing the
potential of my ideas and the possibility of their realization is amazing,” says
Putnam.
Entrepreneurs at this year’s event were Don Wickstrum, UW-P alum and
Owner/President of Quest Industrial LLC; Sara Burks, UW-P lecturer and Co-owner
of MaCandies Boutique; Scott (UW-P alum) and Laura Skelly of Corn Mazes of
America and Skelly Farms; Dan Rohrbach, CEO/President of Southwest Health
Center; Kyle Vesperman, UW-P alum and owner of Vesperman Farms; Jacob
Luginbuhl, UW-P alum and owner of Hometown Painting Services LLC; Joseph
Pometto, Regional Director of Modern Woodmen of America and Adam Weigmann,
UW-P alum and owner of 4x Innovations. They were joined by Lisa Johnson who
serves as Vice President of Entrepreneurship & Innovation for the Wisconsin
Economic Development Corporation and Jonathan Cook who is the Licensing and
Grants Associate at the WiSys Technology Foundation.
“This was my third time attending Meet ‘n Eat with an Entrepreneur”, says Sarah
Schultz, who’s majoring in Business Administration and minoring in
Entrepreneurship. “It's inspiring to hear from a variety of business owners and
creators. Sharing wisdom from their experiences of failures and successes
encourages me to press on in mine. I know the statistics validate this, but it was
still surprising to me to learn firsthand of how many times entrepreneurs strike out
before hitting their home run and how quickly someone can rebound from setbacks.
I transferred to UW-Platteville with the promise of the minor coming before I would
graduate and it's been great”.
Brandi Webber who is majoring in Business Administration and minoring in
Entrepreneurship will graduate this December. “This was the first time I attended
Meet ‘n Eat with an Entrepreneur”, said Brandi. “It was a great experience. I’ve
attended many events with so-called experts from miles away. Turns out we have
lots of expertise close to home! I loved how we were able to bounce ideas off one
another. It was an inspiring event for me”, Brandi added.
Kevin Bernhardt, Director of the Pioneer Academic Center for Community
Engagement and UW-Platteville faculty member, noted that this is one of his
favorite events of the year. “Entrepreneurs come from all walks of life and from
every discipline imaginable. There were students in the room from each of our
three colleges…all had diverse and varied backgrounds. But they all shared an
interest in being creative, being innovative and being entrepreneurial. For our
students to connect with these entrepreneurs who are out there doing just that was
a tremendous opportunity.”
This event was sponsored by the Pioneer Academic Center for Community
Engagement. For more information about PACCE or upcoming entrepreneurship
events, visit www.uwplatt.edu/entrepreneurship or contact Kathy Neumeister,
PACCE senior marketing specialist, at (608) 342-6020 or
neumeisterk@uwplatt.edu.
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