January 27, 2023 |
Last Thursday’s Impact 307 Pitch Night saw four Carbon County start-up companies compete for seed money.
On January 19th, Impact 307, a company focused on helping Wyoming residents start and grow their business ideas, held a pitch night at the Parco Theater, in Sinclair.
Out of a field of nearly 30 applicants, four teams were chosen to attend the pitch night. Each team was given an opportunity to persuade a group of judges that their business plans were worth investing in. Impact 307’s assistant director, Monica Patton, said all four groups were awarded seed money, with one team taking home the audience choice award.
Pictured above: File photo of the Parco Sinclair Theater. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
Brewed Learning is a coffee education company founded by Cody and Christine Anderson. The Andersons own a coffee shop in Rawlins. Cody Anderson explained his plan to bring high-end coffee training to this area of the country.
Anderson said an unfulfilled need exists in the state of Wyoming for trained professionals to install and maintain specialty coffee equipment. He said his business would offer training and repair services.
Attendees of last week’s pitch night agreed with Anderson. The audience chose his pitch as their favorite. Anderson said receiving such positive feedback showed there is a desire for high quality java.
To get his business off the ground, Anderson said he would like to become a certified espresso maintenance and repair technician. He said he will use the seed money to take a series of courses offered by a world-renowned organization of coffee experts.
Armed with a Specialty Coffee Association certificate, Anderson said businesses would know the training provided by Brewed Learning was professional quality.
Three judges selected the business plans they thought had the best potential to succeed. Impact 307’s director, Derrek Jerred was one of the judges. Assistant director Patton described the two other judges.
While Brewed Learning won the audience choice award, all four participants received a portion of the seed funding. Dan Woolley will use the financial backing he received from the pitch night to create online tools for nonprofits, allowing them to streamline the giving process. His company is called Good Raising.
Jon and Heidi Suttee will use the seed capital to further their business, titled Encampment River Glamping. The Suttees will set up a series of luxury camping sites along the Encampment River Trail.
John Ryan’s The Wandering Chef will offer culinary training and event catering with the backing of Impact 307.
The judges set a series of milestones, unique to each business, they must meet before the seed money is distributed. Brewed Learning’s Cody Anderson said he hasn’t been informed of what those stipulations are yet.
All finalists received one-on-one business mentoring through Impact 307 and the Wyoming Small Business Development Center. Seed funding was provided by the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and the Business Innovation Hub of Carbon County.
Watch the presentations from the pitch night here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YPCqh6we9g
