At the 2018 YEA! Investor Panel held on March 28th Nick Silzell, CEO of Sleepy Sheepy, was named the 2018 Grand Junction Area Chamber’s Saunders Scholar. Nick and his family will be attending the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) Semi-Final Competition in Rochester, NY the first week of May to compete for up to $50,000 of scholarship funding.
Nick attends East middle school, where is he a part of the challenge program. Along with being a young entrepreneur, Nick enjoys skiing, playing tennis, and programming robots. His product is a two-sided pillowcase made of bamboo fiber. On one side, he uses bamboo fleece to retain heat, and on the other, he uses bamboo fabric, to keep it cool. Currently, Sleepy Sheepy pillow cases are only available in the standard size, but Nick is looking to expand to king and queen sizes.
In addition to being named a Saunders Scholar, Nick was awarded $1,200 of start-up funding from an Investor Panel composed of sponsors of the YEA! program locally.
Other individuals that pitched their startup companies and received funding from the Investor Panel included:
Aaron Crews, 7th grader (Fruita Middle School) – Decals N Design
Mollie Dare, 6th grader (Fruita Middle School) – World of Water
Madi Hawkins, 6th grader (Fruita Middle School) – Euphoria
Jake Heer, Sophomore (Fruita Monument High School) – Heer’s Hats
Jeremy Heer, 6th grader (Redlands Middle School) – Dog Alert
Trevor Heer, 6th grader (Redlands Middle School) – Enticing Spicing
Colby Reese, 8th grader (Redlands Middle School) – Easy Heat
