Students Making Things

Often it seems student entrepreneurs are concentrating exclusively on building web sites and apps, but it’s simply not so. Case in point, the winners of the Center for Entrepreneurship's Spring 2011 Business Concept Competition: Jon Richardson, Hobie Jensen and Pat Edelman, aka Upper Park Designs have just released their product line of backpacks for the casual disc golfer.

The idea behind the business was to produce bags that make sense for the majority of disc golfers – not necessarily professionals but folks who want to cruise around a course, have fun and enjoy the outdoors. So what was the PROBLEM they were trying to solve?

Basically, they saw the majority of bags for disc golfers were being made for the so-called serious player, so the existing bags all aped golf bags; they were big and bulky.

The Upper Park Designs team thought the average disc golfer goes out more for fun than anything else; so a big bulky bag is inappropriate. Rather a backpack-like design would be the ticket – and here is where they got clever. In a moment of clarity that the great management guru Peter Drucker would love, they thought: Why not mimic a different sport altogether?

How about bringing the idea of an archery quiver to a disc golf course? In this way the player can just reach around and grab the appropriate disc. Perhaps said golfer might not be able to carry all fifteen discs a “serious” player requires – but who cares? A driver, a couple of irons and a putter are fine for most  --- and for those of you unfamiliar with the sport, yes Virginia there are indeed all sorts of different discs for special requirements on a disc golf course.

Add it all up and you have a burgeoning new business conceived and wrought here on the campus of California State University – Chico. 

Check their complete line out at http://upperparkdesigns.com/products/shift.