Trulaske College of Business Senior Wins Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award

The University of Missouri System announced that Trulaske College of Business student Zach Beattie has been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year.

The award honors University of Missouri students who have demonstrated innovativeness, originality, and entrepreneurial spirit in the development of processes, products, or technologies of commercial potential and/or benefit to the University of Missouri.

Each year, the winner, picked from over 75,000 students in the University of Missouri System, is awarded $2,500 and is recognized at the President’s Award Dinner. This year, Greg Bier, Entrepreneurship Alliance Director and Beattie’s instructor, nominated him for the award.

Beattie was nominated for his business Quirks, a consignment shop that specializes in selling student-made goods and other art pieces. The store is located in the MU Student Center and provides competitive consignment rates for students looking to find retail experience.

Quirks isn’t Beattie’s first entrepreneurial venture. He is also the co-founder of Safe Trek, a mobile security technology featured in a variety of local and national publications.

Safe Trek is an app created for people who feel unsafe in different situations. By holding down a button, the app sends a signal to the nearest police station. The app’s call center starts tracking the cellular device’s movements. When the user safely arrives at their destination, they release the button and put a 4-digit code into the app notifying the call center that they have safely arrived. If the user fails to punch the code in after 10 minutes, local authorities are notified and dispatched to the last location of the device.

The creativity of Beattie’s app has put him on the map. Recently, he was featured on Good Morning America to promote his creation.

Professor Bier notes that it is Beattie’s entrepreneurial spirit that earned him the award. “As a true entrepreneur, he looks for consumer needs and opportunities,” Bier notes. “He has clearly demonstrated innovativeness, originality, and the passion one would expect from a serial entrepreneur. These are qualities we foster in our Entrepreneurship Alliance students.”

Beattie, who was surprised with the presentation of his award during class, was shocked to learn he had won.

“This entire week has been surreal. I feel like all the experiences I’ve had in college are culminating in the last few weeks and it’s incredible,” Beattie said. “My friends and family have been so supportive of all of my projects.”

When asked what he’ll be doing down the road, Beattie is still exploring his options.

“I feel like I’m always flying by the seat of my pants, but I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Beattie revealed. “If you ask me where I’ll be in five years, I’ll tell you I don’t know, but that’s the way I like it. You never know what opportunity will come up next.”