Wichita State alumni and entrepreneurs had a strong showing at the recent Get Started Wichita competition.
Four of the five finalists have ties to WSU, and the winner – Jennifer McDonald, founder of Jenny Dawn Cellars – is a graduate of the Launch Prep accelerator program between WSU and e2e.
Get Started Wichita is a competition in which entrepreneurs pitch ideas and prospective business models to judges on a panel.
McDonald's business, Jenny Dawn Cellars, was established two years ago and, with the help of her winnings, will open her first store in the downtown Union Station development area. She hopes to open in April.
Other finalists included:
- Midwest eSports, which started as a student group at WSU, now hosts semi-professional gaming tournaments at various locations across the Midwest.
- Mobile Car Tune, established by WSU senior Jose Cisneros and graduates Jocelyn Galicia and Ernie Cisneros, is an innovative auto mechanic store that offers to come to customers' homes to assist in repairs and automobile work.
- Retreat to Joy, a company that provides a variety of team, work and community building exercises that focuses around the practices of yoga and meditation. The company was started by WSU graduates Jenni Harshbarger and Susan Langmann, as well as Connie Porazka.
- Hilltop Strong, a team of mobile personal trainers and sports performance company based out of Topeka that helps individuals in the workplace stay active, fit and healthy.
The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wichitastate and Facebook at www.facebook.com/wichita.state.