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REXBURG, Idaho –
Daren Kunz, a Brigham Young University-Idaho student from Preston, Idaho,
was chosen November 4 as this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year at the
annual Entrepreneur Conference.
The
Business Department’s annual event draws entrepreneurs and guests
from across the country to speak and participate on the board to select the
winners. The top three entrepreneurs received various cash awards for their
efforts.
Kunz,
the son of Michael and Kathleen Kunz, was awarded first place and receiving
a $2,000 cash prize. His wood shop produces furniture like desks, cabinets
and entertainment centers, and installs fireplaces and stairway banisters.
He
began as a young high school student learning the trade from his father. He
graduated from Preston High School in 1995 and was first asked by a wood
shop in Preston to do some work for them
in 1998. After that, he set up his own contracts without a middle man and
has grown from there.
He
is majoring in business management with clusters in chemistry and biology,
and will graduate next month. He began his studies at Idaho
State University
in Pocatello, Idaho and transferred to BYU-Idaho at
the beginning of 2004. He plans to attend pharmacy school after graduation.
Kunz
fills his time with his wood shop in Preston, going to school in Rexburg
for four days a week and then commuting back to his wife and two children
in Preston. He has rented an apartment and
remained there for four days at a time since he began in Pocatello while living at home and
working on weekends.
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