April 15, 2022

The Governor’s Giant Vision business and student competition has announced this year’s winners.

It’s the 18th year for the competition, which is hosted by the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The winners in business are:

• First place, $20,000: AMBER LLC. Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor with Electrolytic Regeneration offers an on-site wastewater reuse system; Maryam Amouamouha, Rapid City.
• Second place: $10,000: Prairie BioTechnology LLC. Its product, a food preservative derived from a proprietary oilseed fermentation process, can extend the shelf life of fruit; Matthew Cole, Logan Wolf, Jordan Traub and Ian Schuh, Brookings.
• Third place, $3,000: E Glass Industries LLC. It makes after-market fiber-reinforced composite auto body panels and designs and builds molds; Alexander Ellett, Redfield.
• Fourth place, $2,000: Provender Technologies LLC. Modernizing cattle feeding with an automated feeding system –automated, remotely accessible and data driven; Henry Wegehaupt, Dimock.
• Fifth place, $1,000: Thaumachron. De novo generation of patient-specific biologics that require only antigen sequences, allowing for cost effective, personalized and patient-specific treatments; Andrew Simpson, Rapid City.
• Sixth place, $1,000: Blue Sky Holdings LLC. Minimally invasive medical device to surgically stabilize rib fractures to accelerate recovery; Tung Nguyen, Ryan Oines and Steven Briggs, Sioux Falls.

“The goal of this program is to encourage people to explore being a business owner and to create an exciting future while also expanding South Dakota’s economy,” chamber president David Owen said. “We have worked hard to produce an event that will benefit all of the businesses participating. While the prize money will help the finalists, the contacts and rigor required to be a qualifier will prepare each entrepreneur to advance their business idea.”

This year’s college competition drew nine finalists. Winners are:

• First place, $5,000: Disappex LLC. Resin for 3D printers that will dissolve in water with an initial application of molds for manufacturing products; Whytneigh Duffie, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
• Second place, $4,000: ITE Solutions LLC. Automated asphalt paving system, fleet tracking and data collection; Nick Degen, Ben Diersen, Rick Kittelson and Kade Griesse, South Dakota State University.
• Third place, $3,000: SYNOZYME. Enzymatic biodegradation of unrecyclable consumer plastic products; Tawnie Williams, Northern State University.
• Fourth place, $2,000: Li-Tech Lures LLC. Patented fishing lure that allows the user to control action of the tail; Philip Litecky, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
• Fifth place, $1,000: Envision 3D. Custom gaming accessories; Justice Forster and Pack Forster, Dakota State University.