New DSU organization hosting Startup Weekend

PHOTO CAPTION: CEOs IN THE making – DSU students Trent Steen, Christian Ries, Tyler Rau, Sam Coome, and Garrison Collier, are the founders of a new organization called CEO. Graduate student Liam Yager (not pictured) also helps with the group. CEO is hosting a Startup Weekend April 21-23 for students interested in technological entrepreneurship. The group can also be found on Facebook at ceo.dsu or Twitter, @ceo_dsu.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 10, 2017

Contact: DSU Media Relations Dakota State University, Madison, SD
Phone: 605-256-5027 Email: mediarelations@dsu.edu

New DSU organization hosting Startup Weekend

DSU, LAIC co-sponsoring April 21-23 event

MADISON, S.D., April 10, 2017 – “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”

That advice from Behance co-founder Scott Belsky is something that several DSU students are taking to heart. Behance is an online platform where members can showcase and discover creative work. Five students have created a new campus organization, the Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization, or CEO. They are hosting a competition event on April 21-23 for students who want to make business ideas happen. The weekend will be similar to the annual Global Game Jam event, said CEO co-founder Trent Steen, “but instead of one weekend to make a game, you make a business plan.”

Christian Ries, a cyber security major, is the original CEO founder. He was so impacted after attending a similar event in Colorado that “I figured something like that has to exist here on campus as well. It didn’t, so I figured I would just make one.”

He first took the idea to a few interested students. The group then had an opportunity to sit down with DSU’s president, Dr. José-Marie Griffiths, after the 2016 Homecoming parade. They shared their idea for a “technological entrepreneurship” organization, and she referred them to Tim Weelborg, Business Consultant with the South Dakota Small Business Development Center at the SDSU Research Park. That led to free tickets to an October entrepreneur event in Brookings, where the students were able to make other business connections.

This chain of events “really speaks to how accessible people are at this university, and how willing they are to work with students,” said Steen, a computer science major at DSU from Emery, S.D.

Dr. Kevin Streff, professor in the College of Computing helped the students connect with the Lake Area Improvement Corporation (LAIC), which has agreed to co-sponsor the startup event.

“The LAIC Board feels sponsoring Startup Weekend is a perfect way to support student entrepreneurs,” said Julie Gross, LAIC Executive Director, in hopes that “these students will want to stay in Madison and build and grow their business here.”

She listed other area businesses which were started by Madison individuals, including SBS Cybersecurity, InfoTech, Bulldog Media Group and FirstLine Funding Group. “All four have grown into extremely successful businesses providing job opportunities in technology-related fields.”

“DSU is experiencing growth in enrollment and is making significant capital investments on campus. It makes sense to focus on recruiting technology-based businesses, and to assist entrepreneurs and harness the talent of DSU students,” Gross said.

This focus fits with Griffiths’ vision of research and economic development for the university, Streff said. He also pointed out the shortage of employees in IT and cyber security, and the state’s desire to “keep our best and brightest in our state.”

These interests converge into a “very fundable, supportable concept for our community and our university alike,” Streff said. “The need for what they’re doing is great now,” he said, and he predicts it will only grow in the future.

The Startup Weekend competition begins at noon on Friday, April 21 in the Habeger Science Center Auditorium. Speakers from the Small Business Administration will discuss the basics of starting a business; an attorney from Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith in Sioux Falls will discuss issues such as intellectual property rights and software trademarking. During work sessions, the students will create their business plans. The weekend will conclude at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, when those plans will be assessed by judges from the area. The winner will receive a cash prize.

Interested undergraduate or graduate students wishing to compete may sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/Ax7iEYWVeUvfvwmP2, or email Ries at cpries@pluto.dsu.edu.


Dakota State University is a public university located in Madison, South Dakota, part of the State of South Dakota Regental system of specialized schools and universities. Founded in 1881 as a teacher’s college, it maintains that heritage mission, while also carrying out its signature mission of technology-infused and technology-intensive degrees. The university offers both undergraduate (Associate and Baccalaureate) and graduate degrees (Masters and Doctorate). It has grown rapidly in national recognition as a technology-forward school, and has significant partnerships with the U.S. National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, among others, for DSU’s cyber security-related programs. For more information, please contact Jane Utecht, Strategic Communications Coordinator at mediarelations@dsu.edu, 605-256-5027. The DSU website is http://www.dsu.edu.

Lake Area Improvement Corporation © 2024. Developed by Intuvio Solutions.

Stay Connected: