March 4, 2026

The Rawlins County High School Entrepreneurship Fair took place on Wednesday, March 4th, bringing together 17 Business Ideas and 35 students for an exciting day of innovation and competition. Sponsored by NetWork Kansas and Rawlins County Economic Development, the event showcased the entrepreneurial talent and creativity of local students.

Each team presented its business idea to a panel of five selected judges and answered questions about their concepts. Judges evaluated each team based on both their oral presentation and their written business plan. Students had the opportunity to earn up to $2,100 in prizes.

“All the students who participated were great representatives of our community, and it was amazing to see the talent our students have. They all have bright futures ahead of them!” Joseph Sramek

A&E Beauty Bar and Brew was named the overall winner of the competition. The team now has the opportunity to advance to the State Competition at Kansas State University on April 28th and 29th. In addition, all participating businesses are eligible to apply for up to 15 Wildcard positions, with Wildcard winners to be announced on early April 3rd. 

Results

1st - $750 A&E Beauty Bar and Brew Emma Hagler and Ainsley Moses

2nd - $500 Quick Clean-Will Holle

3rd - $250 TRT Hunts- Tucker Prideaux

4th - $100 Plastiforge 3D-Ian Anderson Jeremiah Lare, and Cooper Hayes

5th- $100 Dusty Boots Detailing Auto and Farming Details- Maggie Holle

People Choice - $100  Kylie’s Kitchen-Kylie Dirks

Ready To Launch - $100 RAWorks Photography Aylia Ashford and Ryria Casper

Community Focused $100 Fairchild Lawn Care and Snow Removal-Daylan Fairchild

Most Innovative  $100 Pet Club-Kodi Dirks and Shy Walker

March 03, 2023

The Rawlins County High School Entrepreneurship Fair was held on Wednesday, March 1st. There were eleven teams with a total of seventeen students that competed in the challenge. The event is sponsored by NetWork Kansas and Rawlins County Economic Development. Each team had a chance to present their business to a group of five selected judges and answer questions from the judges as well. Each judge scored each business based off of their presentation and their overall business plan. The students had the opportunity to earn up to $2,100 in prizes, along with the option to complete a course from Kansas State University and receive an additional $50.

The students learned the basics of what it takes to start a business and how to pitch a business to possible investors. They ran financials for their business, which included their start up costs, profit projections, business structures, and all the different components to start a successful business. 

First place winner Josh Popp shared, ”The ability to learn what it takes to create a business that is both profitable and beneficial to the community was great. I learned how to turn a basic idea into a viable business plan. I enjoyed the journey of creating a business piece by piece.” 

Joshua Popp will move onto the State Competition at Kansas State on April 20th. All the businesses that competed are always eligible to submit their business for up to 15 wildcard positions. Winners of those wildcards will be announced on March 27th. 

Prizes

•  1st - $750 - Bike Rack: Joshua Popp

•  2nd - $500 - Thrift Flip: Payton Smith & Pete Crouse

•  3rd - $250 - Tacos Locos: Jayden Ashford & Emma Draper

• Honorable Mention - $100 - Salad Plus: Ella Horinek

•  Ready To Launch - $100 - Punchy Bijoux: Autumn Mullen & Antoinette Brungardt

•  Best Trade Show - $100 - Endless Flame: Abby Micek & Michaela Rippe

•  Best Executive Summary - $100 - Bike Rack: Joshua Popp

•  Community Focused - Zen Arts - $100: Karizma Romme & Charity Engle

•  Most Creative - Thrift Flip - $100: Payton Smith & Pete Crouse