An ASU student and business school professor were honored at the White House Thursday as part of an Obama Administration program that recognizes ordinary people who do great things in their communities.
Entrepreneurship senior Zach Hamilton was one of 11 young entrepreneurs honored through the Champions of Change program — a weekly initiative that celebrates the work of Americans who exemplify President Barack Obama’s call to “out-educate, out-innovate and out-build the rest of the world.” Business professor Sidnee Peck traveled to Washington D.C. with Hamilton and was one of five speakers at the recognition ceremony who discussed how entrepreneurship is important for the future.
The program honors a different group of people each week. Last week’s theme was entrepreneurship, but past groups have included small business owners, parents working to better their children’s education and people who've made advancements in the field of transportation.
Peck said a White House official contacted her and asked her to nominate students from ASU.
Hamilton was recognized for his business venture, DevilWash, an environmentally friendly pressure washing company that cleans concrete, retail centers, residential facilities and performs automotive and aircraft detailing.
DevilWash sucks up the water from the ground and sends it through a filtration system, which cleans the water and allows the company to reuse it. Most companies hose the dirty water down the sewers, Hamilton said.
Last year, DevilWash saved about 67,000 gallons of water filled with oil and contaminants from going down the drain, he said.
Orchards Lawn, a landscape maintenance service, was the first company Hamilton started in southeast Michigan when he was 12 years old. He sold the company before moving to Arizona for school and it is still in business today.
At the ceremony in Washington, D.C., Peck spoke about the value of entrepreneurship at universities and how ASU has been successful promoting it. Peck is also the director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives at the W. P. Carey School of Business and manages the Knowledge Entrepreneurship and Innovation certificate. The certificate is available to students in all degree programs at the University so they can learn how to apply entrepreneurship to their lives, she said.
The entrepreneurs honored in Washington D.C. were also asked questions by an audience that consisted of students from local universities.
“It was an all-around awesome experience,” Hamilton said. “It was nice to meet everyone that was there, all of the people in the audience and all of the people on the panel.”
Hamilton said he hopes the recognition will help build DevilWash’s credibility and give it more exposure, and show that ASU has a legitimate entrepreneurship program.
W.P. Carey Dean Robert Mittelstaedt said in an email that economic growth in the U.S. depends on a continuing stream of entrepreneurs.
“To have one of our program directors and a student recognized by the White House in this area recognizes that we are helping to educate students who will drive our economic future,” Mittelstaedt said.
Reach the reporter at mmistero@asu.edu
