PROVO, Utah — Inspired by his late father, a Heber Valley teen is carrying on his legacy through a growing landscaping business, which won him first place in a local competition that will help it thrive for years to come.
An 11th grade student in the Wasatch School District, Vince Witt is the owner of Vince’s Turf and Landscaping. His hard work and determination come as no surprise as his father, Joe, was a local home builder.
In February, Joe Witt was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling just outside of Midway.
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“I honestly owe it all to him,” Vince said. “I wouldn’t be here without him, like the work ethic he taught me and all of the skills, pretty much hand feeding me my first couple of jobs — he really got me going.”
It's that work ethic that passed from father to son that helped Vince earn $20,000 in a recent competition for student entrepreneurs.
The Invest Nest Regional competition sponsored by America First Credit Union is where students pitch ideas to a panel of judges in a “Shark Tank”-meets-“American Idol”-style competition.
Students can earn $10,000 at the district level, and can double that at regionals, which is exactly what Vince did.
“Me and my dad were just talking about it,” said Vince. “I was doing some other businesses, working for him, and then I just started doing like firewood on the side, just lots of small different businesses, and then I was doing landscaping too for him.
"So, I kind of had all these different options. I'm like, ‘Hey, there's this thing at school ... there's a chance to win $10,000,' and he's like, ‘Yeah, you should do it’.”
With the business, Vince does traditional landscaping and turf with a couple of jobs already under his belt, which is all thanks to the lessons he learned from his father.
“Vince has felt strength from his father from the other side,” said his mom, Terri. “Joe’s legacy lives on through Vince and will continue to live on through all of us.”
During the competition, eight student finalists pitched their ideas on stage at iHub in Provo,
“We’re blown away by the creativity and confidence these students bring,” said Heather Flinders, vice president of South Central Branches at AFCU. “They’re already shaping the future through real ideas and real businesses, and it’s clear that the future is in very good hands.”
