The 2025 Fremont County Start-Up Challenge is now accepting applications through February 14th for new business ideas in the area.
The format for Start Up Challenges is a 3-stage process: an application period, followed by selection period where the finalists are chosen by a panel, and finally a “Pitch Night” where the finalists present their idea in front of a panel of judges.
The winner(s) receive seed money and other professional resources to help them continue to develop their idea and plan, all free of charge. 
Last year’s winners were Susan Frost with Queens of Goodness, Yellowstone Spice Company owner Scout Fauth, and start-up company Burly Boy’s Rustics, owned by Jim LaVine.
“I’m would have made a lot of mistakes without it,” Frost said of her work with the Start-Up Challenge and the Bootstrap Collaborative. The Queens of Goodness brand has received help with marketing and website design, and finding the right professional help to set up finances and an LLC. Grant money from the contest is helping expand Frost’s line of products and make manufacturing more efficient.
Applying for the Fremont County Start Up Challenge is free and open to those with an idea or the beginnings of one! Interested entrepreneurs answer a few questions describing their business idea, product, or service, and explain the market they plan to serve.
You can download an application form here, and submit it to Mike Hoyt at the Bootstrap Collaborative, or drop off at: Central Wyoming College (2660 Peck Ave, Riverton), HS 140.
For more information about the Fremont County Start-Up Challenge or to download the rules, visit the Bootstrap Collaborative online.
For more articles about The Bootstrap Collaborative, visit the County 10 Archives.
Sponsored post paid for by The Bootstrap Collaborative.
The Bootstrap Collaborative is a joint effort between Central Wyoming College, County 10, Makerspace 307 and the Wind River Development Fund. Its intention is to help new and existing businesses and entrepreneurs succeed and prosper while providing events and networking.