By Dani Woodland
The top student entrepreneur at BYU will be chosen Friday in the final round of the Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition in Room 151 of the Tanner Building.
Twenty-three companies entered the contest, and today?s semi-final round, held at the BYU Conference Center, represents the best six. These include: Fro Yo, J Dawgs, Osmond Design, Body Solutions, Back Road Events and Seatability.
The best three of these six will go on to the final round on Friday.
The students, whose companies range in scope from frozen yogurt to personal training to furniture, must own at least 25 percent of the company and must have been in business for at least six months.
Professional entrepreneurs judge the competitors based on four categories: present financial strength, future prospects for growth, entrepreneurial achievements and business and marketing strategy.
Derek Perkins, a 22-year-old junior from Beijing, started the company Seatability in February. Seatability already sells their unique bungee-seat chairs in stores all over the country.
Perkins said his focus is on the future of his company.
?I think the main thing about Seatability is the fact that it?s scalable ? it?s got a lot of potential,? he said. ?Some of the other companies are local mom-and-pop-type businesses? which is great, but harder to expand. We have a lot of potential for nationwide growth.?
The Center for Entrepreneurship invites students to attend the final event on Friday at 2 p.m. Door prizes will be awarded.
