Brookfield Academy students win annual ‘Wisconsin YES!’ youth business plan contest

10 Jun Brookfield Academy students win annual ‘Wisconsin YES!’ youth business plan contest

Pablo Dale, Christian Hong and Andy Liu, who will be seniors this fall at Brookfield Academy, are the grand prize winners in Wisconsin YES!, a statewide youth business plan contest for students in middle and high school.

Dale, Hong and Liu’s company, unRaveled, is a tangle-free earbud case that slides on the back of phones.

Dale, Hong and Liu presented their winning idea June 5 at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Milwaukee during the awards luncheon for the Governor’s Business Plan Contest.

Students submitted their ideas in a 250-word online summary to compete in Phase 1 of the contest. Professionals from across the state served as judges, provided feedback and scored the ideas. About two-dozen entries were selected to move on to Phase 2, where they submitted 1,000-word executive summaries covering company overview; product or service description; customer definition; market description, size and sales strategy; competition; management team; financials; and capital needs.

 Second place was awarded to Sasha Simmons of Wauwatosa East High School for her entry SeaNET, is a biodegradeable nets to the fishing industry.  Evan Krook, Jack Vandyke and Andrew Watt of Neenah High School were awarded third place with their entry, Stay 100, a retractable charging cord wheel.

The Wisconsin YES! contest is produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council. Major support is provided by WEA Trust, Intrepid Charitable Partners, UW-Madison Office of Business Engagement, and the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Contest partners include the Department of Financial Institutions, Department of Public Instruction, the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators, Make a Difference Wisconsin, Project Lead the Way Wisconsin, STEM Forward, Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers and Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials. 

Modeled after the successful Governor’s Business Plan Contest, Wisconsin YES! is designed to teach students how innovation in science and technology fields can be developed into plausible business plans.  It is an opportunity for students to explore the connections between science, technology and entrepreneurship, and for educators and judges to cultivate an interest in these arenas. Visit https://wisconsinyes.com/ to learn more.

In alphabetical order of the submission name, other participating finalists in the sixth annual contest were: