Laramie Entrepreneur to Share Experience
This article first appeared in the Laramie Boomerang
In 1998, with a $100 loan, John Pope, a graduate of the University of Wyoming, started Blue Sky Group Inc. Today, Blue Sky Group’s companies generate more than $25 million in collective sales and employ more than 150 people.
Later this month, Pope is slated to tell the story of his entrepreneurial exploits at e2e’s Laramie meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn, 2229 Grand Ave. Pope currently serves as CEO and president of Gas Sensing Technology Corp., also known as WellDog.
“I was pleased that they asked me to talk,” Pope said. “I’ll be speaking about WellDog as an example of building a successful company from scratch here in Wyoming.”
e2e is an education network associated with the Wyoming Technology Business Center at the University of Wyoming. With locations across the state in Laramie, Sheridan, Gillette and Casper, e2e, which stands for “entrepreneur to entrepreneur,” works to improve local business and entrepreneur climates.
Pope graduated from UW with his Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1995. In addition to starting several energy-related companies. Pope has served as an assistant professor of chemistry at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and in the advanced performance materials group at Monsanto Chemical Company. That, according to Pope, is just the beginning.
“My career is really just getting started,” he said. “WellDog’s shown that it’s possible to build a company that is successful and focuses on markets around the world. Bad things happen. Failures happen. Tenacity and resilience are key things when it comes to entrepreneurship.”
Jon Benson, CEO of Wyoming Technology Business Center, said Poe brings an interesting story to e2e’s Laramie meeting.
“We’re building a base of technology companies here and this is a technology entrepreneur who has really done well,” Benson said. “John has a very interesting story.”
Pope stills serves as CEO and president of Blue Sky Group, which is the grandfather organization for his multiple businesses. Blue Sky Group includes businesses such as Gas Sensing Technology Corp., Nanomaterials Discovery Corporation, Blue Sky Batteries and Centennial Woods, Inc., a company that sells lumber from reclaimed Wyoming snow fences. Today, Pope said, fledgling entrepreneurs can still build a successful business with less than the $100 he started with.
“It’s not about the money,” Pope said. “It’s about finding something useful to do and sticking with it. There’s lots and lots of ways to start companies and grow companies. Some of them are capital intensive and some are not.”
Pope is considered an expert in the fields of batteries, fuel cells and coal-bed natural gas.
“One of John’s defining characteristics is he’s very persistent,” Benson said. “Not everything works the first time you try it. The people who keep trying and who build a great team eventually makes things happen.”
When it comes to entrepreneurial opportunities in Wyoming, Pope said geography does not matter.
“The world is a small place these days,” Pope said. “The opportunities don’t depend on where you are as much as where you can see. Two-thirds of the 90 people WellDog employs are in Australia, but we’re still based in Laramie and intend to be based in Laramie for the foreseeable future.”
