With the new year underway, Weber State University is putting on a brand-new event in 2018. The Hall Global Entrepreneurship Center will host an Outdoor Weber contest, which is open to college students throughout the country.
“This first-of-its-kind competition gives college students across the country the opportunity to advance their outdoor recreation idea,” Brandon Stoddard, the Hall Global Entrepreneurship Center director, said. “Those who take advantage of this opportunity will be better prepared to make their dream happen.”
Participants in the event will be given the opportunity to showcase their ideas for recreation products or services. Submissions begin on Jan. 5 and culminate when finalists compete from March 22–24. The final competitions will take place at the Snowbasin, Wolf Creek and Powder Mountain resorts.
The contest is open to all students across the country. Students can submit videos with their proposal ideas to outdoorweber.com. Twenty-five individuals will be selected for the semifinals. Semifinalists are determined by who gets the highest number of online votes from Jan. 26 to Feb. 15. From there, a panel of industry experts will select the 10 finalists.
The winner of the contest will be awarded $30,000 to develop their business concept.
The awards banquet on Mar. 23 will feature keynote speaker Marcus Lemonis, chair of Camping World Holdings and a star on CNBC’s “The Profit.”
“I am personally and proudly invested in more than 150 U.S. businesses,” Lemonis said. “Our business mantra for success has always been ‘people-process-product,’ but, without a doubt, people are the most important part of a businesses success, which is why I am looking for the brightest, hardest working and most entrepreneurial-minded students.”
Camping World Holdings is a leading outdoor and camping retailer, which was founded in 2016. It is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, and has sponsored recent major sporting events. Camping World provided funds for the 2017 Major League Baseball semifinals, as well as a college football bowl game between Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State University.
