Zachary Beattie, a senior in the , has been named the 2014 Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ.
UM System administrators Hank Foley and Leona Rubin — in front of members of the student group — surprised Beattie with the award, which includes a $2,500 award. The award honors University of Missouri students who have demonstrated innovation, originality and entrepreneurial spirit in the development of processes, products or technologies of commercial potential and/or of benefit to the University of Missouri.
Beattie is already the founder of two successful startups, and he’s had a hand in the early operations of three more.
Beattie is the co-founder of Quirks Consignment Store, which sells student-made goods on Mizzou’s campus. The project was born out of the Mizzou Student Center Entrepreneurial Space, and has since become the most successful venture out of the program to date, making $14,000 in one semester of operation. Investors and collaborators attribute the store’s success to Beattie’s branding, creativity and strategic management.
Beattie is also the co-founder of , a mobile phone application which notifies the police if an individual encounters an unsafe situation while walking alone. Safe Trek was created to provide proactive protection to individuals who did not feel safe on college campuses after Beattie witnessed several years of troubling Clery releases and reports of assaults on fellow students. Currently in its beta form, the mobile app has been a Top 25 Lifestyle app in the Apple App Store.
Beattie’s honors and awards range from the traditionally prestigious to slightly more creative. He was a Collegiate DECA International Champion, earned first place in the National Entrepreneurship Challenge, was the RJI Window App Development contest winner, and a finalist in the Entrepreneurial Startup Weekend. Beyond that, Beattie combined his entrepreneurial skills and love of improv comedy to give a TEDx talk on “The Art of Improvisation,” an idea which he hopes to expand into a new project offering corporate training based on the pillars of improv.
One nominator wrote, “Zach has not set his sights on a single invention or project. As a true entrepreneur he looks for customer needs and opportunities. Zach has clearly demonstrated innovativeness, originality and the passion one would expect from a serial entrepreneur.”
Beattie will be formally recognized during a UM System awards celebration to be held in June.
Reviewed 2014-06-04