Purdue University alumnus, entrepreneur to unveil rural youth entrepreneur program
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., and SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois high school juniors who are members of the National FFA Organization, formerly Future Farmers of America, will learn about rural entrepreneurship and innovation on Monday and Tuesday (April 4 and 5) from a Purdue University alumnus and entrepreneur.
Neil Mylet, founder and CEO of the Purdue Research Park-based startup LoadOut Technologies LLC, will be joined by Ashlie Kolb to unveil agNucleus to more than 400 high school students attending the Illinois Farm Bureau® & Affiliates Youth Conference at the Crowne Plaza Springfield, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway.
"We created agNucleus with the intention of showing youth that a person does not have to live only in urban areas to have opportunities to create a startup that can impact the world," Mylet said. "It is possible to live in rural America, form a team with international partners and transform how industries and communities work."
LoadOut Technologies has developed a patent-pending smartphone application that improves worker safety during processes like feeding livestock, loading grain trucks and operating conveyor belts because workers can observe the operation from a safe distance.
Since unveiling the smartphone application, Mylet - who grew up on a farm in rural Carroll County, Ind. - has spoken about using technology to transform the agriculture industry at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, AG CONNECT Expo 2011 in Atlanta, SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas, and with reporters from Successful Farming magazine and Hoosier Ag today. He also is a finalist in the TechPoint Young Professional of the Year Award category in the 2011 TechPoint Mira Awards.
"Ashlie and I will provide reference materials and conduct activities at the conference that focus on the basics of entrepreneurship, the importance of building strong teams and understanding the value of international relations as it relates to agriculture, development, trade and commerce," he said. "Our goal is to develop agNucleus as a tool to strengthen these students' interest in rural entrepreneurship."
Mylet looks to expand agNucleus throughout 2011.
"Ashlie, my colleagues at LoadOut Technologies and I are in the process of scheduling 15 other opportunities to introduce entrepreneurship to rural youth in 2011," he said. "We will work with local personnel to assess the value of agNucleus, to engage more people and strengthen the effectiveness of these good-will projects."
About LoadOut Technologies LLC
LoadOut Technologies, based out of the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Ind., engineers revolutionary mobile technology solutions that allow smartphones to become the central point of command and control for complex industrial processes.
About Purdue Research Park
The Purdue Research Park, with four locations across Indiana, has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The parks are home to about 200 companies that employ 4,000 people and are located in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, Merrillville and New Albany.
Press Contacts
Steve Martin
Purdue Research Foundation: Publicist & Media Relations
765-588-3342 sgmartin@prf.org
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