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Winner named in Young Entrepreneur competition
The winner is in for the 2026 Junior Achievement Young Entrepreneur competition, after five teens representing four businesses made their pitch.
MILWAUKEE - The winner is in for the 2026 Junior Achievement Young Entrepreneur competition.
After five teens representing four businesses made their pitch to a panel of all-star judges, a winner has been named. Congratulations to Ethan Eriksen from Barron who is the winner of a $5,000 scholarship.
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What they're saying:
Eriksen is the proud owner of Shrederz Attire, a winter apparel company that he created in 2024. He decided to create a pair of snow pants when he had trouble finding a pair with a flame design. It's a journey that caused him to reach out to soon-to-be competitors and eventually manufacturers overseas.
"So I started looking for manufacturers that could make it for me, and I could give them, like my mock-up and material specifications," Eriksen said.
Ethan Eriksen, the owner of Shrederz Attire
After facing early struggles after early prototypes came back with something less than desired, the teen stuck with the process, eventually making his first sale to someone in Washington state. Now those flames are appearing on mountains across the country.
"And it's just like a snowball, like it keeps growing and growing as more people buy my pants, and then they tell their friends, and it's, it's also a really good feeling, too," said Eriksen.
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Dig deeper:
Eriksen was one of four businesses who were named finalists in Junior Achievement's statewide competition. The other finalists included Danielle Gustafson and Kaylee Dobke who are owners of Repeluxe. Their business makes jewelry injected with mosquito repellent that keeps the insects away.
Abby Sommer from Kimberly is the proud owner of Sommer media, a photography business. Sommer said she saw an opportunity in the market by offering affordable packages for her fellow high school seniors.
Caden Vroman from Verona is the owner of Neighborhood Lawn Care. Despite being too young to have a driver's license, Vroman uses artificial intelligence to help market his lawn care company to grow his client list and better manage his time.
Big picture view:
This year, an all-star lineup of Wisconsin business leaders helped judge the competition. They included Mario Costantini, president of La Lune Collection; Craig Culver, co-founder of Culver's; Louis P. Gentine, CEO of Sargento; Anna Lardinois, a storyteller of MKEStartup.news; and Jim Popp, CEO of Johnson Financial Group.
FOX6 News anchor Mary Stoker Smith once again emceed the event, while FOX6 anchor Ben Handelman interviewed all the teens prior to their appearance on the competition stage.
What's next:
You still have a chance to vote for your favorite business. The business with the most votes will win this year's Viewer's Choice Award. Voting will continue through Sunday, March 15.
The Source: Information gathered by the FOX6 News team and Junior Achievement of Wisconsin.