Bradley students Matthew Klein and Devin Soldati took first place in this year’s Social Impact Challenge for their business Hikers Inc. Hosted by the Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the challenge allows students with ideas for sustainable community projects to compete for up to $10,000 in money and in-kind services.
Hikers Inc. is a website and app that supports the welfare of hikers and parks alike through giving information about a park’s history and ecosystems alongside creating opportunities for visitors to make responsible decisions through activities.
These include cleaning and recycling activities that can be shared with other users, sharing travel information through social media and other planned resources and online applications.
Klein, senior business management and leadership major, and Soldati, junior kinesiology and health sciences major, created the service along with Kyle Petersen, a sophomore at Olivet Nazarene University.
In a statement responding to their results on his LinkedIn, Klein further acknowledged Kevin Evans, senior economic engagement specialist for the city of Peoria, and William McDowell, executive and academic director of the Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, as sources of guidance during their process.
The Bradley students were ecstatic when they heard the news, both as a culmination of their work and a solid foundation for future plans, with the two stating that their cash prize will alleviate their launching costs and allow them to stay focused and on schedule.
“We spent a lot of time coming up with our strategy, presentation and business model, and there is nothing better than seeing all of the hard work pay off,” Klein said.
Klein cited that growing up next to Starved Rock State Park in Oglesby, Illinois is a common inspiration among the three co-creators, and one that they knew thoroughly.
“Between the three of us, we have been to the park over 100 times,” Klein said.
While the park has a reputation for its millions of yearly visitors and pristine Midwestern vistas, the three began identifying issues with their hiking experiences, including litter on the trails. This inspired them to start a business with a central objective of park preservation, which led to the creation of the brand Hikers, of which their work at Starved Rock is an individual sect titled “Starved Rock Hikers.”
While competing in the Social Impact Challenge, Klein and Soldati were put through two rounds: a preliminary round where competitors submit papers explaining their idea, and a final round where the highest-scored students of the previous round submit a brief written summary and give a 10-minute presentation on their idea.
In explaining the group’s mindset, Soldati stated that their presentation was dedicated to conveying the complete vision of their business.
“We tried to give the audience a full-circle experience of what our business would provide,” Soldati said. “This meant [that there was] a lot of extra time making prototypes of the physical and virtual features, but I think being able to see what we would offer made a huge difference.”
Soldati further explained that he and Klein practiced their pitch each day for over a week, which he believes helped them secure first place even in the face of technical difficulties.
“Our slides did not format correctly when getting submitted and were white text on a white background instead of white text on black background,” Soldati said. “This made reading our slides extremely difficult, especially when trying to maintain eye contact with the audience. Because of this, I blanked near the end of the presentation for a few seconds which worried me, but it could have been a lot worse if we did not memorize our lines.”
The Hikers Inc. group is looking to the future, with extensive plans in tow. According to Klein, they hope to officially pilot the business at Starved Rock, installing weigh stations for waste and recycling points throughout the park in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. They hope to eventually expand the business to other parks.
Klein directed those curious about the progress of Hikers Inc. to its website and social media accounts.
“While the competition may be over, Starved Rock Hikers is just getting started,” Klein said.
