DirtTRI Magazine has won the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce Small Business Center’s ‘Trout Tank’ competition. Designed as a local version of the popular Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den television shows, the Metro Denver SBDC Trout Tank involves a multi-stage audition process. In this, entrepreneurs get a chance to make their pitch, with five entrepreneurs then moving on to the final.
After months of training, the five finalists pitched their businesses to a room full of judges, lenders, investors and community members. Each company brought their own unique products to the plate – from collaborative dry-erase boards to custom hand-made aprons. In the end DirtTRI Magazine won the judges’ pick.
DirtTRI founder, editor, and CEO, Jimmy Archer said “I could not be more surprised and excited to win Trout Tank. While there is not a material prize awarded to the ‘winner’ of Trout Tank, the experience gained is massive and winning is a huge honour and validation for DirtTRI. It shows we have value with audiences not endemic to triathlon.”
He continued, “The Denver SBDC Trout Tank program has been invaluable to us as a startup. DirtTRI consists of passionate triathletes who want to advocate and grow off-road multisport; we have a surplus of expertise in our segment, the Denver SBDC has given us the tools and knowledge needed to build a successful business and for that we could not be more thankful.”
Immediately on the heels of winning Trout Tank, DirtTRI announced it would be hiring Gerard Hubbard as the title’s first ad sales rep. Hubbard joins DirtTRI from Bighorn Landscape Materials where he was a commercial sales rep.
During his tenure at Bighorn Landscape Materials, Hubbard introduced commercial sales and grew the brand into one of the largest in the Colorado Front Range with accounts ranging into the millions. In addition to his sales acumen, Hubbard is a competitive age group triathlete and has been a USA Triathlon Regional Rep for several years in Florida and Colorado.
“DirtTRI is growing quickly,” said co-founder, Will Kelsay. “Goal number one of 2016 was to monetize the brand. We’ve been lucky to have advertisers already approaching us but we needed someone who intimately understood the DirtTRI brand to represent us. Gerard shares our passion for off-road multisport. His energy, drive and expertise will be a vital asset and excellent fit for the DirtTRI brand and our vision for the future. There is a lot of hard work ahead on the path to success and it’s great to have him on board for the adventure.”
Ad Sales Rep Gerard Hubbard said, “I am passionate about pursuing my dreams and being involved in projects I truly believe in. I’ve known Jimmy Archer for several years and was hoping I might have the opportunity to become part of DirtTRI. I am excited to share my excitement for the brand and help DirtTRI achieve its ambitious goals.”
