Aspiring entrepreneurs awarded startup cash at Hawk Tank

Business ideas for this year's Hawk Tank involved myriad products and ventures, all with unique missions and creative marketability. A total of four high school teams, six recent alumni teams, and six college teams competed in the live final round on Zoom on April 18. The winners were announced on social media in a congratulatory video from FLC leadership and the School of Business Administration.

“Congratulations to everyone who participated this year,” said Steve Elias, SOBA dean. “Great job and outstanding presentations and plans.”

The new high school track for regional high schools had four teams competing in the final round. In third place was Moo Moo’s Coffee Shop, a coffee shop using food from local family farms. The team received $250 and each team member was awarded a $2,000 scholarship to FLC. Second place went to Time Walker, an app with historic overlays of users’ current locations. They’ll each receive $4,000 scholarships to FLC and $500 cash for the team. The first place award went to Martian Tech Sport Gear, sports equipment focusing on monitoring for head injuries in contact sports. The team will split $1,000 cash and each member gets an $8,000 scholarship to FLC. 

This high school track was launched with the help of Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center with sponsorship from Gene and Sally Bradley and FLC Foundation. 

The alumni track winner is Dead Room Comedy, a Denver-based comedy event production company. They'll take home a $5,000 cash award, sponsored by the Erteszek Family Foundation. Six recent alumni teams competed in the final round.

In the college track, six teams of current FLC students competed in the final round. Hawk Tank is the premiere event for business-minded students wanting to gets hands-on experience with business planning.

"At Fort Lewis we emphasize experiential learning and it doesn’t get more experiential than this," Provost Cheryl Nixon said. "It’s been great to work with all of our business community members and get inspired by real-world business."

Third place and $1,000, sponsored by Bank of the San Juans, went to Macro Ther, a company with a mission to provide quality and affordable insulin. Second place and $2,500, sponsored by the Community Foundation, went to Storage Rent, an RV storage facility and Airbnb rental hybrid. First place and $5,000, sponsored by Swan Global Investments, went to Perins LLC, a secure bike storage container system for vehicles.

The final round and awards announcement of Hawk Tank was transitioned online due to coronavirus. For President Stritikus, the disruption the virus has caused is a call to action for today's college students.

“Hawk Tank teaches students be entrepreneurs and business leaders, and right now small businesses, innovation, and entrepreneurship are essential to rebuilding our society," said President Tom Stritikus. 

Hawk Tank is FLC’s annual business plan competition, hosted by the Fort Lewis College School of Business Administration and Office of Alumni Engagement. The competition is open to teams led by current FLC students, recent graduates, and Four Corners area high school students. Competitors have the opportunity to take a new business idea from concept to storefront, and successful plans can earn cash prizes and FLC scholarships.