BOUNTIFUL—Tim Cobbley has big plans for his up and coming landscaping/snow removal business. He used those ideas to jumpstart his next venture, Rocky Mountain Brine Company, an alternative to regular dry salt used to melt snow. He submitted his application to the Get Started: Business Idea Challenge, hosted by Startup State Initiative (a Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity program) to compete to receive up to $500 in micro-funding to help entrepreneurs in the early stages of building their business.

Cobbley was named as a winner in the most recent monthly challenge. “It started out last year when our landscaping business took on snow removal,” he said. “We put plows on our trucks but we needed to look at alternatives to a dry salter in the back of the truck. I thought there must be a better way than mounds of salt.”

They considered liquid brine, said Cobbley. “It’s a de-icer but in a liquid version. Then I had to determine how to make it. I built large containers to mix salt in with magnesium to get it to lower temperatures.”

It’s healthier for the landscape, he said. “Salt is horrible on the lawn, landscaping and cement. We have some large commercial properties so we developed a skid tank spray system. It connects to a boom sprayer that can cover 30 feet at a time going back and forth. With dry salt you have to wait until it becomes liquid, this starts to work right away after it’s sprayed.”

Cobbley said the grant money will help the company to scale up. “We want to make it bigger so we can provide it to other landscapers and supply it for residents as well. We can convert it to an all around alternative to dry salt.”

He found the challenge while looking for different loan options. “I wanted to find a way to get bigger,” said Cobbley. “This came up as an option.”

It started out with a Zoom call, he said. “They asked me five or six questions after I gave a presentation. I was on the call with other applicants. There were a lot of good ideas.”

Cobbley said he believes several factors helped him to win. “How far along we were was a really big help. It had also been actually tested so they could see how great it was.”

“For many aspiring entrepreneurs, the most difficult parts of starting a business are those early milestones, things like creating or testing the first product, validating your idea, or even receiving a business license," said Tim Cooley, Director of Entrepreneurship and the Startup State Initiative at GOEO. “The Get Started: Business Idea Challenge is designed to lighten the financial burden that is often associated with those early days of business and give entrepreneurs a fighting chance to get their business up and running.”

“Applications must be based on specific, achievable short-term milestones – such as idea validation, prototyping or marketing to complete within 30-90 days after receiving funding,” according to material provided by GOEO.

“The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity is committed to helping entrepreneurs in all corners of Utah,” said GOEO Executive Director Ryan Starks. “Through a combination of area-specific outreach and programs like the Get Started: Business Idea Challenge, the Startup State Initiative is reaching entrepreneurs in all 29 of Utah’s counties and providing them with the resources they need to make their dreams a reality.”