ABOVE PHOTO: UW-River Falls students Luke Heggestad, left, and Jake Regan congratulate each other after competing in the Innovation Challenge at the university on Wednesday. Event participants pitch their business plans to judges. UWRF/Pat Deninger photo
As Jake Regan and Luke Heggestad presented their ideas for a potential business to a dozen judges and an audience of more than 50 during the Innovation Challenge Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, they reiterated each facet of plans they hope become reality.
An innovative idea. Product development. Audience demand. Marketing.
Regan and Heggestad described those concepts of their business plans and more at Innovation Challenge, a competitive event at which students present their business plans to judges. Regan, a junior from Rogers, Minn., who is double majoring in management and marketing-professional sales, pitched his practical Screen Buddy business plan as an easier way to carry and store window screens.
Heggestad is a senior from Andover, Minn., double majoring in finance and marketing-professional sales. He told judges his GeoSki plan to affix geotags to ski and snowboard equipment will improve safety and reduce theft of those items while also building community.
The duo related the ample research they completed and built the case for product demand. They discussed challenges they faced along the way and how they overcame those obstacles. Heggestad even traveled to Colorado to interview industry professionals about his GeoSki concept.
“I’m passionate about snowboarding and skiing,” he said, “and I realized there is a big problem with lost or stolen snowboards and ski equipment. I want to do something to address that.”
After six-minute presentations, Heggestad and Regan answered questions from judges and other audience members. They then gathered with judges to receive additional feedback.
When the judges’ scores were tabulated, Regan placed first and won $2,000 and Heggestad took the $1,000 second-place prize. Regan will advance to the WiSys Big Idea Tournament April 25 at UW-Milwaukee, where he will compete against other Innovation Challenge winners from other Universities of Wisconsin campuses.
While the prize money is nice, the benefits of participating in Innovation Challenge extend far beyond dollars and cents, Regan and Heggestad said. Doing so spurs creativity, develops problem-solving skills and business expertise and results in personal and mentor relationships and that lead to future opportunities, they said.
“All the mentors that help you along the way and push you to keep on working and improving are thousands of times more valuable than the prize money,”
-Regan
This year’s Innovation Challenge marks the 10th year UWRF has hosted the event. Participating in Innovation Challenge is anything but easy, the students said. The challenge isn’t part of their classwork but is done in addition to students’ already-busy schedules.
“The amount of extra work that students put into this is really quite impressive,” said Sheri Marnell, director of the St. Croix Valley Business Innovation Center and the organizer of the Innovation Challenge. “These students are very committed to doing the work and to becoming entrepreneurs.”
Regan acknowledged difficulties fitting the time needed to work on his business plan into his schedule, but said the extra effort is well worth it.
“The fact that this is a very fun and rewarding experience makes it an easy decision to do the extra work,” he said.
Heggestad has competed in the Innovation Challenge for the past three years. This year’s experience was particularly valuable, he said, as it pushed him to think critically, “refining a concept that aligns with my passions while addressing a real-world problem.”
Like Regan, Heggestad acknowledged challenges in moving his business plan forward. But the lessons he has learned through the Innovation Challenge process make all the effort worth it, he said.
“As innovators, our role is to develop next-level solutions that drive real change,” he said. “While the journey is never easy, with discipline and the right mindset, anyone can create something impactful.
Two previous UWRF Innovation Challenge winners – Lamah Bility, co-founder of Didomi, and podcaster and journalist Michelle Stangler – were among this year’s judges. Bility, a 2020 UWRF graduate, and Stangler, a 2024 grad, spoke about the positive impact of the Innovation Challenge on their business ventures.
Didomi is a reusable water bottle company that provides clean, safe water to tens of thousands of people around the world. Stangler is the creator of the Positivity in Ag podcast that discusses all things agriculture.
Bility, an immigrant from Liberia, described how he wanted to help provide clean drinking water to people in need after growing up amid water scarcity. He lacked family members who understood business and he doubted whether he could actually start and operate a business.
“There were plenty of times I wanted to give up, that I almost gave up,” Bility said. “But Sheri [Marnell] believed in the idea and in me. She helped me take the idea in my head and make it a real business. And that really gave me the opportunity to get to where I am now.”
