Bret Rasmussen (center) and his fellow Core Footwear founders, Chad Rasmussen (left) and T. Cody Hughes, won this year’s Utah Entreprenurial Challenge by Fashioning a custom business plan around a lightweight outdoor shoe with a moldable misdsole made from memory foam.
Compared to the competition at the Utah Entrepreneurial Challenge (UEC) in June, BYU grad Bret S. Rasmussen (BS ’03) had a business plan with sole—in his words, a sole “comfortable enough to hike in and classy enough to go out for the night.” His business, Core Footwear, produces a lightweight outdoor shoe with a mid-sole designed to contour almost perfectly to the wearer’s foot.
Teaming up with current BYU students Chad C. Rasmussen (BS ’05) and T. Cody Hughes (BA ’03), this cobbler’s concept ran away with first place and $40,000 at the UEC, which is open to college teams across Utah.
Rasmussen started designing shoes in fifth grade, but it wasn’t until 2005, when he consulted with physical therapists, shoe specialists, and engineers, that the patent-pending mid-sole was created. Unlike most flat insoles, this mid-sole is shaped to match the foot and designed from memory foam that molds to each unique foot.
At the UEC, Hughes wasn’t sure the comfy soles would cut it. “The competition there had amazing technology that could help the entire world, and we were doing footwear.”
When Rasmussen asked the judges why his team won, they said Core Footwear had the best plan, matched with an enthusiastic management team and a strong advisory board of industry professionals. In other words, the business had a chance of really succeeding. Next summer Core Footwear hopes to launch the shoes and prove the judges right.
