TORRINGTON – After almost two full months of preparation, the finalists for the “Goshen County Start-Up Challenge” pitched their business ideas for the judges on Thursday, Nov. 9. During the “Pitch Night,” the local entrepreneurs gave it their all to present their ideas for the opportunity to receive seed funding. 

“I’m definitely excited for this year’s event,” Brian Young, the Goshen County assistant director of Impact 307, told the audience on Thursday. “I’m excited to present the four finalists that we have this evening. They’re going to tell us a little bit about their business ideas, and I want to recognize the hard work at the outset here.”

Impact 307, a University of Wyoming program, focuses on supporting innovation-driven businesses committed to growing and strengthening Wyoming’s entrepreneurial community, according to impact307.org.

The challenge is a great opportunity for Goshen County residents to put their ideas to the test, gain valuable business coaching and start-up support. The finalists for the contest have been working with the Impact 307 staff since they were selected for the “Bootcamp for Finalists” on Oct. 6. 

The goal of the challenge is to help diversify the state’s economy by providing the necessary resources to help local entrepreneurs create a business. 

Out of the four finalists, two, Brianna Thompson with Pearl Livestock and Chezney Curtis with CSC Braiding, were chosen as winners. Thompson was also awarded the “Audience Choice Award.” 

The choice award is a cash prize that was chosen by the audience at the end of the event. This award was sponsored by the Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) Foundation. 

Thompson is an EWC student studying animal science. She also competes on the livestock show team. Her business, Pearl Livestock, will make animal blankets for the livestock industry, starting out with goat blankets. Her blankets will come in winter and summer options. 

“I’ve attended a lot of shows and I’ve noticed that there is a need for livestock blankets,” Thompson said. “There are livestock blankets out there, [but they don’t work for everyone]. I have a breeding doe with large horns, and I can’t find anything to fit over her horns.”

Thompson said blankets are a necessity for the show industry to keep animals warm in cold temperatures, give them protection from fungus, like ringworm, to help them stay clean and protect them against sunburn and flies. 

“I can’t get any blankets on [my doe, Pearl,] because she is so fat and nothing will fit over her horns,” Thompson explained. “So, I can’t protect her at all at shows or do anything to keep her clean.”

The winter blankets designed by Pearl Livestock would be made of waterproof canvas on the outside and warm fleece on the inside. The summer blankets would be made of a cooling technology fabric, similar to athletic wear for people, and they will have a pocket for an ice pack or cooling towel.

Both blankets will have a removable neck and/or widening to open the neck hole, a leg pleat for added motion, a buckle around the belly, as well as adjustable leg straps and a name tag.

“The blankets that are available today are not that durable,” Thompson continued. “[It doesn’t take long before] they’re chewed up and ripped.”

Thompson’s design will help prevent that.

She plans on the blankets being available online, on Etsy or Amazon, at livestock events and at different retailers.

Curtis is currently a sophomore at EWC studying agribusiness and sciences. Her business, CSC Braiding, will make good quality handmade tie strings and dog leashes made out of paracord. 

“I helped my boyfriend and his family with their cattle and a little over a year ago a problem arose,” Curtis explained. “We had nothing that was reliable or durable to tie down cattle with. That was when I learned how to make tie strings and dog leashes out of paracord.”

Curtis said the tie strings and dog leashes are both customizable in length and color. The dog leashes have a sturdy handle on one end and a strong, yet lightweight, durable class. 

Each item is made out of 550 paracord, which can hold up to 550 pounds. The cords are braided together, resulting in a four-strand braid, which can hold up to 2,200.

“The gripping from the braid makes the product easy to grip and lessens the likelihood of rope burn,” Curtis said. 

Curtis plans on the product being available on her online website and hopefully at retail pet stores, retail garden and ranch stores and on Amazon or Etsy. 

The other two finalists were Hailey Smith with Eco Cultivate Solutions and Victoria Plasencio with Grip Tech Industries. 

Smith is local to Goshen County. Her business idea was to create products to help regenerate nutrients in soil. 

“I came up with this problem when I was going around town and thinking about how many farmers don’t realize the actual health of their soil and how it has an effect on their crops,” Smith said. “[The problem I’m trying to solve], is the unhealthy soil harming the health and growth of crops. My solution is making a nutrient-rich solution that you can put into your irrigation systems to instill some nutrients into the soil.”

Smith said her plan is to use big compost bins with food scraps, manure and any food with a high vitamin percentage. She will then put the product created from the bins into gallon and quart concentrate containers. 

“This has been tried mostly with hobby farmers,” Smith explained. “They use this a lot on their small farms.”

Down the road, she would also like to create nutrient booster packets that are specific to certain types of plants.

Smith would like her product to be sold personally, by herself or by sales representatives, online, and at farming and ranch stores. 

Plasencio is a longtime resident of Goshen County, who worked at the Goshen Care Center for almost 20 years. Her business idea was to create water-resistant footwear for use in various industries. 

“During [the time in healthcare], I noticed that there was a real big need for a good reliable boot to work in,” Plasencio said. “So, I came up with my Grip Tech Industries. [I wanted to help supply] affordable and durable footwear for the health care department, along with other industries.” 

Other industries would benefit from this product include restaurants, veterinary, medical departments and janitorial workers. 

Plasencio said her boots would be slip-resistant, comfortable and reliable and would replace the current expensive, unreliable options available. 

“I worked as an aide, and some of us used to put plastic bags around our shoes to keep them from wearing out so quickly,” Plasencio explained. “Some of us would also go barefoot to keep our shoes from wearing out.”

Plasencio’s product would easily slide on, be flexible, conform to your foot, have a water-resistant ankle seal and be made out of high-quality synthetic rubber with a non-slip bottom. While some of the competition have a few of these features, she said that none of them have all of them, especially the durability. 

Her product would be available online, at different retail stores and supply companies.

Even though two of the finalists were not selected, they still have the opportunity to work with Impact 307 to see what other ways they can get their business up and running. 

The judges for the event were Zach Miller, the chief executive officer of the Torrington Community Hospital and the Platte County Memorial Hospital, Dr. Korinne John, the owner of the Steamboat Chiropractic Health and Wellness Clinic, Martin Winchell, the chief executive officer of W & W Land and Capital, and Lisa Johnson, the executive director of the EWC Foundation.

“We want to thank our great sponsors,” Young said. “The two primary sponsors this year were the EWC Foundation and Goshen Economic Development. [Also, thanks to] our judges.”

Young also thanked the other statewide partners, the University of Wyoming, the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Wyoming Business Council. 

Moving forward Young will work with the finalists to design a budget. After that time, the judges will award specific funding to the finalists. 

“I really do appreciate everyone coming out tonight and supporting local entrepreneurship,” Young told the audience. “Last year, we had such a great group of finalists. I’m so excited about this year’s finalists; I think you saw some great business ideas.”

To learn more about Impact 307 and the free business advisory services offered throughout Wyoming go to impact307.org or contact Brian Young at byoung13@uwyo.edu.