April 28, 2023

A Sioux Falls startup has received the top prize in the annual Governor’s Giant Vision competition.

My Parts Pros LLC, a cloud-based software company, provides a range of features, including picking prioritization, automated order tracking, real-time updates on delivery status and optimized delivery routes. It’s owned by David and Elliott Zimmer and received a $20,000 prize.

Other winners were:

Second place, winning $10,000: Rapid City-based CellField Technologies LLC, a contract research organization utilizing microphysiological system to provide services to pharmaceutical companies, decreasing drug development costs and dependence on animal models, owned by Scott Wood and Hosein Mirazi.

Third place, winning $5,000: Volin-based Straight Up Care LLC, a web-based platform for peer specialists that features a training course and matching algorithm to bring new peer specialists to the job market, reducing the nationwide care burden and improving addiction and mental health client outcomes, owned by Melissa Dittberner and Jonathan Lewis.

Fourth place, a tie with each winning $2,50o: Vermillion-based Advanced Radiation Technology & Solutions LLC, a cloud-based platform for Monte Carlo simulations of radiation interactions with matter, allowing users to build, visualize and share models of specific objects and environments without any coding experience, owned by Jing Liu and Chao Zhang; and Humboldt-based Latitude-Ag LLC, a unique system to more efficiently and effectively clean out agricultural sprayers, reducing operator exposure to chemicals and eliminating wasted chemicals, owned by Ladd McCluskey.

Sixth place, receiving $1,000, Rapid City-based BioBest, a minimally invasive, viable, bio-inspired ventilation system for scrubbing effectively the airborne pollutants and toxic fumes from mine ventilation air, owned by Cody Allen and Venkataramana Gadhamshetty.

“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,” said David Owen, president of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry. “We have worked hard to produce an event that will benefit all of the competitors. While the prize money will help the finalists, the contacts made and rigor required to be a qualifier will help all to advance their business ideas.”