Creating Innovators
Center for Innovation empowers young alumni.
Carter Razink, ’22, has always been an entrepreneur. Yet, it wasn’t until one fateful bag of pretzels was tossed at him during a career fair that he gained the opportunity to transform his entrepreneurial interests into a career.
The pretzels were thrown by Tyler Sletten, Director of SBIR/STTR for the UND Center of Innovation (CFI), who introduced him to available resources to his business through UND’s CFI. This was the beginning of Carter’s four-year relationship with CFI.
As a high school student, Carter dabbled in a variety of online businesses – from video game tips to consumer electronics reviews – and was introduced to the world of online marketing in which he became a self-taught expert. After meeting other entrepreneurs through CFI as a freshman at UND, Carter realized that he could put himself through college with his budding businesses. That year, with the guidance and support of the CFI, Carter turned his online marketing website into a full-fledged business, PRNet Consulting LLC. He also created a student-run marketing consulting company, Prodigy Marketing, in the process.
Without my experiences at the Center for Innovation, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Carter, a recent graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences, is now a partner in several businesses, including Webblen, an app that pays people to attend local events. Majoring in Mathematics and Physics, he balances his interests in research with his growing businesses. One of Carter’s businesses is aiding research at UND. His educational technology company, Lumin, is studying the ways experimental learning can be applied more effectively in academia.
The CFI enabled Carter to grow his ideas into profitable businesses that helped to fund his education. CFI is opening doors for individuals like Carter who want to make an impact and start their own ventures. Every year, donors support mentoring programs and other resources for student-entrepreneurs.
"CFI focuses on maximizing the impact an individual can have by providing the tools and resources necessary. Without my experiences at the Center for Innovation, I wouldn’t be who I am today."
ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERTISE
The Center for Innovation works every day to advance the creation and development of innovative and entrepreneurial ideas, services, and businesses. Get involved today to help develop young entrepreneurs like Carter. Together, we drive the future.
