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Winner of the 2015 Impact Venture Challenge shares how the competition was where “dreams came true”

Winner of the 2015 Impact Venture Challenge, Hometown Hope, shares how the competition was where “dreams came true”

Last year, Messiah College found a new way to help students make plans for positive societal change—the Impact Venture Challenge, or IVC. A “Shark Tank” style business competition, the Impact Venture Challenge was created to equip Messiah students to develop and launch faith-informed ventures with positive social impact. Last year’s winning team—Hometown Hope—successfully launched their social ventures into reality when their business plan topped the competition. 

Founded in rural Maryland in 2013 by Trevor Felkner and Skylar Felkner, currently-existing Hometown Hope was joined by Craig Bowen ‘15 and Brad Steinwig ’15, both seniors at Messiah at the time. Bowen majored in business administration and Steinwig majored in accounting. They saw a need in their community—Westminster, Md., where Hometown Hope resides—and decided to fill that need by creating rustic furniture through reclaimed materials such as pallets and old barn wood. 

“The IVC was a great way for students to push themselves in entrepreneurship and express their ideas to friends and family,” said Bowen. “It was great way for us to not only learn about entrepreneurship, but to learn about ourselves and discover our passions.” 

With $5,000 in prize money, Hometown Hope has various plans to continue growing and ministering to others. Last year, Bowen said they wanted to purchase a drum sander to cut production time, which would boost profit margins. The long-term goal is having a retail location and design studio where customers can come in and design a custom piece (Source: Central Penn Business Journal). 

Apart from helping students get their business ideas off the ground, Impact Venture Challenge also allows them to broaden their social network and build personal relationships with others. 

“The IVC has grown my business network and allowed me to meet some very influential people and build lasting relationships with them,” said Bowen. “Personally, the IVC helped me discover what I am truly passionate about, which is helping other people and building relationships.” 

Talking about the process of brainstorming ideas and planning for their entrepreneurial contest, Bowen appreciated what he had learned at Messiah and said his education was valuable and greatly contributed to their achievements. 

“The business program at Messiah was very influential to our team’s success in the competition,” said Bowen. “My teammates and I not only pulled knowledge from our entrepreneurship classes, but from all our business classes and experiences. Additionally, we were able to go to multiple professors for help and advice.” 
 
What piece of advice would Bowen give Messiah students? “Establish good relationships with your professors, try and find out what drives you to be who are and pursue that passion,” said Bowen. “Because that’s where you will find true happiness.”  

My Nguyen '17