About Us
Grow Utah is a non-profit entrepreneur development organization dedicated to accelerate the creation of innovative, entrepreneur-led, high-growth businesses that will strengthen and expand the future growth of Utah’s economy. Founded in 2005, the vision of Grow Utah is to create a robust entrepreneurial eco-system in Utah that fosters entrepreneurial talent, drives innovation to solve market needs, aligns community resources and support, and ensures funding for products, entrepreneurs and businesses of promise.
Grow Utah facilitates a wide range of executive leadership initiatives designed to bolster and expand Utah’s entrepreneurial eco-system comprised of talent, ideas, support and funding. We also directly lead entrepreneurial initiatives that promote the creation of new innovations and products addressing a range of market needs. As a result of these initiatives, we increase the likelihood of success of the individual entrepreneurs. We do this with the end objective of building businesses that will aggressively impact the vitality of our economy by creating jobs and increasing individual wealth.
Grow Utah uses its own resources to fill critical gaps needed for economic and entrepreneurial expansion and seek to encourage others to do the same. As such, we serve as a catalyst in forming new partnerships, developing innovative solutions, and capturing emerging opportunities that solve our economic issues today and ensure a sound foundation for our economy in the future.
Although Grow Utah originally started as an investment fund, the funding side is now separate and Grow Utah is no longer invests in startup businesses.
Testimonials
"I have had the pleasure of working with Grow Utah for over 10 years now in various capacities. It has been a pleasure working with their forward thinking leadership and understanding of business growth principles. They have helped hundreds of entrepreneurs get started and do an outstanding job at it."
"Your competition was a vehicle to keep my dream alive and was such a phenomenal experience! The C2C Competition was the perfect avenue to hone in on my focus and vision for the project. I was able to sharpen so many skills: pitching, presenting, creating compelling presentations, and networking. There were so many great opportunities to connect and network with fellow developers, investors and entrepreneurs. The level of professionalism was also impressive. The judges gave valuable feedback on things I had not thought of and has helped me since. I was so honored and humbled by this experience."
"Thank you for a marvelous experience & opportunity. It is so nice to know there is an organization out there supporting innovation and development of great ideas. Your program (Concept to Company) was such a boost to me. I understand how hard it is to not only get others to “understand” an idea, but to actually support it. In a world where the inventor is discarded so easily, your organization really has given me renewed faith that there are still those that recognize the innovator!"
"I have had the pleasure of working with Grow Utah for over 10 years now in various capacities. It has been a pleasure working with their forward thinking leadership and understanding of business growth principles. They have helped hundreds of entrepreneurs get started and do an outstanding job at it."
What We Do
At Grow Utah, we are dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship across the state. We do this by:
- Organizing and host startup contests in various industry clusters across the state to help identify promising startups in need of resources.
- Hosting and running hundreds of startup conferences and events to promote and highlight Utah entrepreneur activity.
- Organizing and lead community work-groups to help grow entrepreneur activity across Utah cities and regions.
- Working with state partners, such as Higher Education and USTAR, to lead and assist in startup growth efforts.
Our Team
T. Craig Bott
President and CEO
T. Craig Bott is co-founder and President and CEO of Grow Utah. He formed Grow Utah with Alan Hall as a way to give back and help Utah businesses.
Craig is an entrepreneur and small business expert. He is a published author on topics related to entrepreneurship and frequently speaks on the topic of entrepreneurial development and industry acceleration. For many years, he directed Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneurial Management consulting services and owned and operated his own successful consulting business. He has provided fundamental advice and council regarding strategy and marketing/management to hundreds of emerging and expanding businesses throughout the western United States.
Along with entrepreneur activity, Craig has also served in a variety of senior operational positions at such companies as Franklin Covey, MarketStar and the Utah Governor’s Office. He has launched and managed five of his own companies in the fields of software technology, consumer electronics, digital media, broadband services and professional services. He has helped numerous businesses raise angel and venture capital, design product and operational strategies, and implement successful marketing and sales campaigns.
Craig is also a nationally published author, and has served as an adjunct professor at Weber State and Brigham Young Universities where he received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Justin Bott
Director of Marketing & Operations
Justin Bott has been with Grow Utah since 2005. He manages and directs all of Grow Utah’s marketing and operations, outreach activities, events, promotions, and customer base.
Justin is a Weber State University Leadership Scholarship recipient with degrees in Marketing and Sales from WSU. Before joining Grow Utah in 2005, Justin was responsible for all marketing and sales at vacation resort in Kauai.Prior to that, he was responsible for sales at Oracle/Siebel during their crucial pivot to SaaS along with managing all tradeshow marketing efforts for a software startup that was later sold to Fidelity.
If Justin’s not around, he’s probably fly-fishing with his boys or venturing off the beaten path somewhere in the world.
Emily Jensen
Graphic Design & Marketing
Emily Jensen provides the “look” of everything that Grow Utah does. She brings years of marketing, graphic design and creative experience to Grow Utah.
Jensen is a former Student Body Vice President of Public Relations at Utah State University where she gained invaluable experience in graphic design, public relations and event planning. She utilizes this experience to create everything from banners and awards to programs and basic marketing materials for Grow Utah.
Jensen has a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in liberal arts and has been employed with Grow Utah for three years.
Our Underwriting Sponsors
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Grow Utah knows that it takes partnership to achieve true economic growth and a healthy entrepreneurial Eco-system in Utah. Click the icon to become a partner with us in helping the future entrepreneurs.
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