Gov. Walker: Presents awards for Governor’s Business Plan Contest at 16th Annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference 

“Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the backbone of our economy and they are helping move Wisconsin forward,” said Governor Walker. “Congratulations to all of the competitors in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest. We need to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit that today’s competitors embody because they are helping our state’s economy grow and they are creating family sustaining jobs.”

12 different businesses competed this year in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest at the conference. The goal of the contest is to encourage entrepreneurs in tech-based businesses who are in the startup stage to compete. The contest helps connect up-and-coming entrepreneurs with a statewide network of community resources, experts, high quality education, management talent, and sometimes capital resources. Mehrdad Arjmand and Aaron Olson, co-founders of NovoMoto, were awarded the grand prize. NovoMoto designs and builds solar systems for homes, businesses, microgrids, and charging states for remote areas in Africa. The other finalists are listed below:

• Bruce Bathurst, Founder, AquaMetals
• Lorne Forsythe, Founder, Shockray Self-Defense
• Kevin Barnett, Founder, Pyran
• Joshua Cleveland, Founder, Impact Sports
• Nancy Brekke-Jones, Founder, Replace-A-Lace
• Terry Wakefield, Founder, Swirl Insurance Services
• Jignesh Patel, Founder, DataChat
• Dayne Rusch, Founder, Pyxsee
• Stephen Naylor, Founder, ReNeuroGen
• Randy Nagy, Founder, Fast Forward Forensics
• Amy Jancewicz, Founder, AmebaGone

The 16^th Annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference also celebrates young entrepreneurs. This year 20 students were recognized for their entries into the Wisconsin Yes! Competition. Racine elementary student, Alex Hart-Upendo, a 5^th grade student at Gifford Elementary School in Racine, won the middle and high school competition with his Build-a-Bow.