Skip to main content
Intellect

"Whistleblower" named 2004 BYU Student Entrepreneur of the Year

Adam Edmunds, founder and president of SilentWhistle LLC, was named Brigham Young University's 2004 Student Entrepreneur of the Year. The first-place finish earned him $12,500 cash and another $12,500 in support services for his new venture.

Edmunds was one of five student finalists who presented businesses at BYU's 13th annual Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition. Paul Lowry, founder of The Builder's Guide, placed second; Lawton Smith of System Technology Inc. placed third; Brock Henderson of Osmond Designs Inc. placed fourth; and Kara Forrest of Provo Fro-Yo placed fifth.

A panel of successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists selected Edmunds as the 2004 winner. His company, SilentWhistle, produces whistle-blowing software to help companies prevent illegal and unethical activities within their organization and provides public companies with compliance systems required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. SilentWhistle is the first company to develop a comprehensive web-based system for whistle blowing, a process usually done by phone.

During the competition, each finalist gave a ten-minute PowerPoint presentation highlighting each business and fielded questions from the judges. The judges, all founders of the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship, scored each presentation for management skills, business numbers and entrepreneurial opportunity.

"We love coming here and participating," said Jim Sheffield, owner of Sheffield Homes Inc. and one of the judges. "The caliber of the Marriott School students is great--their ideas, energy and excitement. That's why we give time, money and energy. We get pumped up too and want to go home and do a better job."

All five finalists left the competition with at least $2,000 in cash and an additional $3,000 in supportive services. Lowry says he plans to use the money to pay off start-up debt and research new products. All prize money and in-kind services come from contributions to the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship.

The Student Entrepreneur of the Year competition began in 1992 as a way to recognize students who start their own businesses while still in school. The event is sponsored by the the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship and the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs

Writer: Sarah Chamberlin

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

A mother, a mission, a major, two minors and a lot of plants

December 07, 2023
It was an Education Week workshop that gave Alyssa Bagoyo the courage to major in chemical engineering and pay tribute to her late mom’s BYU degree and heritage by minoring in business and Japanese.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

National math associations agree: BYU's got some of the best math programs in the country

December 05, 2023
Accolades continue to pour in for BYU’s College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, as both the statistics and math departments have recently received national awards recognizing their programs as some of the best in the country.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU has a new No. 1 ranking: University with the most students studying abroad

November 30, 2023
New data from the Institute of International Education Open Doors Report shows BYU is tops in the United States for the most students who studied abroad this past academic year.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=