How one university works to leverage Utah’s startup culture to nurture entrepreneurs
Dec 23, 2024, 6:45 PM | Updated: 8:08 pm
OREM — There are many rankings out there showing the best states to start a business. Utah often ranks fairly high.
One university believes it’s positioning itself to lead the way in pumping out new entrepreneurs because of the business climate Utah already has.
“Utah is special,” said Seth Jenson, director of Utah Valley University’s Entrepreneurship Institute. “We’re absolutely special.”
Startup culture
On Provo’s Center Street, there’s a new addition.
In what used to be a car dealership, the new corporate headquarters of Thread has moved in. Or, as employees call it, “Threadquarters.”
The chief financial officer Ryan King said the company sells a lot of wallets, lanyards, and bags.
“We used to be making these in my parents’ garage,” King said, holding one of their wallets. “Now we’re not doing that.”
The business has certainly grown since launching in 2015, and King has a lot of experience to share. Lately, he’s been doing that at UVU’s Entrepreneurship Institute, providing guidance and mentoring to students.
The institute has been around for about seven years. But within the last 12 months, Jenson has worked to reinvent it by taking advantage of relationships with existing businesses like Thread – and a strong startup culture in the state.
“There’s no better place to build a program like this one than in Utah,” Jenson said, “because there’s so much to plug into.”
Startups, of course, can be volatile. Many of them fail. But WalletHub recently said Utah is the best state to start a business. Additionally, a Stanford researcher found the state has the highest percentage of companies that are unicorns, which are privately held with a value of at least $1 billion.
At the Entrepreneurship Institute, UVU students from all majors learn how to start a business – and start earning money – within one semester.
Jenson called that a “lightbulb moment” for students that is “life-changing.”
Learning how to be an entrepreneur
Tim Shorts, a junior studying computer science, is building a business. It’s a mobile game website where users can join competitions and developers can market new games.
His company is two months old and just started getting revenue, he said.
“It felt good,” Shorts said.
UVU also works to connect local entrepreneurs who have a business idea and some money with students, and then they work together to bring that business to life, said Jenson.
“We’re committed to have UVU be a top five entrepreneurship program in the world in the next five years,” he said.
Shorts is excited about what he’s building and sees himself as an entrepreneur.
“It’s kind of an addicting thing for me,” he said. “I think that I would be happy just continuing to build something, to build companies.”
Back at Thread’s headquarters in Provo, King said he’s inspired by what’s going on at UVU and agrees Utah is well-positioned to churn out more startups because of its entrepreneurial community.
“It’s just been awesome,” King said. “So many people willing to help.”
