Celebrating Success: Boise Entrepreneur Week Military Track
The Military Track at Boise Entrepreneur Week (BEW) recently concluded with resounding success, thanks to the collaboration between Mission43 and the Veteran Entrepreneur Alliance (VEA). The event featured a dedicated military track that provided military-connected business owners with an opportunity to integrate into Idaho’s thriving entrepreneurial community. The track was filled with an informative panel discussion, an exclusive pitch competition, and a total of $10,000 in prize money for deserving participants.
8 military community members participated in the inaugural Boise Entrepreneur Week Military Pitch Competition
Military community members from across Idaho showcased their skills, innovation, and products during the inaugural Military Track at Boise Entrepreneur Week. The event welcomed individuals from various backgrounds, some just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey, and others seeking the extra boost needed to grow their businesses and nonprofit organizations.
First Place $5,000: Lifter’s Loot
Jessica Estes, with Lifter’s Loot, spent 21 years in the Air Force in ground radar. Jessica developed the business from experience in her fitness journey; she realized it can be overwhelming to sort through the multitude of fitness products and supplements available on the market to find something you enjoy - leaving you with a pantry full of partially used, large containers of expensive items. Enter Lifter’s Loot, where subscribers can receive a monthly box of high-quality supplement samples and protein snacks delivered right to their door!
“With so many supplements and snacks for seasoned lifters and bodybuilders, it’s challenging to know what to choose. We do the work for you by carefully curating the highest-quality products with clean ingredients.”
This is a great way to try something new and sample a variety of items without forking over hundreds of dollars for the full-sized product. Interested in a Lifter’s Loot subscription? We’ve made it easy for you! Click the button below to be taken directly to the Lifter’s Loot subscription page and get “gains fer yer booty!”
Second Place $3,000: Zero Dark Thirty Coffee
Jarad Webb served in the Marine Corps for 4 years as a combat engineer and is passionate about giving back to the military community. Zero Dark Thirty Coffee came to fruition over a cup of coffee and a conversation about how to give back to brothers and sisters in arms. Zero Dark Thirty Coffee’s namesake came from military slang for “really early in the morning,” and is made from higher-quality roasted beans than most mass-produced coffee. Not only are you getting a better quality brew with each sip, but you’re also supporting the veteran community with Zero Dark Thirty’s mission to support service members and bring awareness to veteran and first responder suicide and PTSD.
“Our primary goal here at Zero Dark Thirty Coffee Inc is to provide our customers with the best coffee possible at the current market price. Nobody at Zero Dark Thirty Coffee Inc is trying to get rich and there are no owners or shareholders to keep happy by filling their pockets.”
There are several purchasing options, which include a monthly subscription. Click the button below to visit Zero Dark Thirty’s website and browse coffee and swag options!
Third Place $2,000: Screen It First
Mac McCabe served in the Marine Corps for 8 years as a MP and musician. Like many great entrepreneurs, Mac set out to solve a problem that he has direct experience with: Ensuring that his children were reading age appropriate books that aligned with family values. The Screen It First Platform helps inform parents and educators about sensitive content in children’s books. In this platform, contributors can anonymously submit screens for books. Information is compiled and available for users to view as they wish, helping to identify sensitive content for others, or to view without having to read the book in its entirety.
“We do not encourage book banning nor censoring, but instead aim to help the adults in a child’s life make informed decisions about which content is appropriate for their child. ”
Screen It First is a donation based platform that prides itself on the respectful community it has built. If you’re interested in finding out more about the content of your child’s latest book, click below!
Donald Young: Rattler Medical Solutions
Donald Young spent 11 years in the Army as a combat medic and currently serves in the Idaho National Guard as a medic and preventative health specialist. Rattler Medical Solutions aims to expand the capabilities for medical providers who are working in austere environments by giving them the right tool to preserve life. During his time as a combat medic, Donald saw a change starting of giving blood as close to the point of injury as possible. The current solutions to medics carrying blood in combat zones are either large and bulky but have a long storage capability; or, they are small and easily cartable but have a small storage area but also have a short lifespan. Using the smaller options require logistical support to resupply medics with cooling packs that can give away positions of troops in combat areas as well as put more assets in danger.
Rattler Medical Solution’s device, patent pending, is a battery powered device that can both keep blood cool, as well as warm it prior to administration. This will allow more medics to carry blood in combat zones there by expanding the capabilities for these medics to preserve life.
Jeffrey Bledsoe: Sewersleeve
Jeffrey Spent 38 years in the Air Force as a surgical technician and as a nurse in the Navy. His experience gave him a strong understanding about how to confine and contain biological waste. When he made an RV purchase, he immediately recognized the need to confine sewage waste from the sewer hose.
Jeffrey’s patented Sewersleeve is a plant-based, biodegradable sleeve that is inserted into the RV sewer hose and then slides out and is thrown away after use. The hose never touches sewage and doesn't need cleaning, no sewer smell to carry from site-to-site, and no sewage dripping on your possessions.
JJ Dela Rosa: Macadoo’s Lumpia Shack
JJ retired from the Air Force after serving 22 years as a radar technician. His passion for sharing his family’s recipes sparked the desire to open a food truck, Macadoo’s Lumpia Shack, which serves handcrafted Filipino eats like pancit, fried rice, pork skewers, and of course, lumpia! Macadoo’s can often be found at Meridian Main Street Market during food truck season, but they also cater. You can find out more by visiting their Facebook and Instagram.
Justin Chilcoat: Elite Firearm Solutions
Justin served in the Marine Corps for 8 years as a communications tech and now owns Elite Firearm Solutions in Garden City, Idaho. Elite just celebrated their grand opening, and offers cerakote certified application, maintenance and repair, and customer builds and modifications. Find out more by visiting their website or stop by their location at 110 East 43rd St., Suite 100, Garden City, ID. 83714.
Vicki White: Whoopie-Ki-Yay Whoopie Pies
Vicki served 31 years in the military between active duty Air Force and Air National Guard. Her love for baking and experience as a pastry chef makes Whoopie-Ki-Yay whoopie pies extra delicious. Vicki bakes out of a commercial kitchen and is preparing her “whoopie wagon” to hit the food truck scene in Boise. You can currently find her whoopie pies in Boise at Alchemist Coffee (Overland), The Hideout Coffee Co on Broadway, or you can order directly from Whoopie-Ki-Yay with local delivery and shipping! The button below takes you directly to the order form. Make sure to like/follow on Facebook and Instagram for pop-up location information!
Whoopie-Ki-Yay features fun seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice, original flavors like churro, PB&J, and birthday cake. If you order soon, you might catch her special-edition savory flavors of Jalapeño cornbread with goat cream cheese and bacon filling or cheddar sage cornbread with cream cheese filling.
Find out more
Interested in supporting military-connected entrepreneurs? Want to find out how you can participate in upcoming entrepreneur events? Contact us at Education@Mission43.org.