Four local businesses win $399k in the Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge Grant Competition

Contact: Gina Woodward, 806-651-5151, gwoodward@wtamu.edu

AMARILLO, Texas— Four local businesses were awarded a total of $399,000 in funding in this year’s Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge Awards Celebration.

11 Marketing + Design and owner Walter Steelman were awarded $100,000 for the Amarillo-based marketing agency. Since 2017, 11 Marketing has grown from a purely digital agency to a full-service agency providing an array of services from video production to branded apparel. It specializes in helping small- to medium-sized businesses create a consistent, professional brand. Find it online at 11marketing.net.

Fat Mama Feeds and owners Brian and Ashlee Gwin were awarded $100,000 for expansion of their local feed business. Located in Amarillo and founded in 2019, Fat Mama Feeds buys, processes, wholesale distributes, and delivers soybeans and deer corn to multiple dealers, individual hunters and big-game ranches throughout the region. They offer the only bagged 100 percent soybean feed on the market today. Fat Mama Feeds can be found online at fatmamafeeds.com.

Think Metal and owner Seth Bernard were awarded $100,000. Think Metal opened in 2015 and is a fully custom CNC metal fabrication shop specializing in metal art and signage. They primarily sell via e-commerce and ship products to customers across the country and globe. They specialize in business signage, metal art, address markers, magnet boards and home decor. All of their products are made in Canyon. Find Think Metal online at thinkmetalcnc.com.

Vvntus (pronounced ven-tus) and owners Matt Garner and Jason Herrick were awarded $99,000 for expansion of their Amarillo-based food research and manufacturing company. Founded in 2021, Vvntus researches, develops and manufactures animal feed and human food. Their mission is to provide functional ingredients and foods with demonstrably positive results to the end user.

“The Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge has done so much to contribute to Amarillo’s growth over the last 25 years,” said Gina Woodward, interim executive director of the WT Enterprise Center. “Helping to grow local businesses that are bringing in money from outside the area and in turn growing our economy is a win/win for everyone.”

The 2021-22 Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge process began in September. Participants went through a multi-step process that helped them sharpen their business skills. The competition is a program of the WT Enterprise Center and is funded by the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation. Applications for the program will reopen in September at amarilloenterprizechallenge.com. 

About the Amarillo Enterprize Challenge

The Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge is a program of the WT Enterprise Center and funded by the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation to assist entrepreneurs in expanding an existing primary business in the Amarillo area. Everyone who participates gains a better understanding of how to develop and follow a realistic business plan and prepare their business for investment. The WT Enterprise Center is a department of the Paul & Virginia Engler College of Business at West Texas A&M University. Visit wtenterprisecenter.com or contact the WT Enterprise Center at 806-374-9777.

Photo: Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge winners celebrated winning $399,000 in grants Feb. 24. Pictured, from left, are Brian Enevoldsen, WT Enterprise Center program manager; Thomas Cunningham, Nick Freeman and Jordan Bernard of Think Metal; Brian and Ashlee Gwin of Fat Mama Feeds; Walter Steelman of 11 Marketing; and Matt Garner and Jason Herrick of Vvntus. Kevin Carter, president and CEO of Amarillo Economic Develoment Corp., is second from right.

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