Wasatch High School junior Vince Witt was all confidence when he won the first-place prize of $10,000 last month at the school’s annual Invest Nest competition — a “Shark Tank”-style tournament in which student business owners pitch their concepts to a panel of judges. His business, Vinc e’s Turf and Landscaping, raked in over $230,000 in 2025, profiting $50,000.  Vince believes xeriscaping — his speciality — is the future of landscaping, given Utah’s desert climate and lack of water to share among developers. He said that puts his company in a strong position to grow. Vince’s Turf and Landscaping has already booked more than $160,000 worth of jobs this year. Vince expects a gross revenue of $478,000 this year, profiting $105,000. Those impressive numbers proved that landscaping wasn’t merely a summer gig for the 17 year old. As his uncle, Ben Witt, put it, “If you were to loan one of these kids money, which one would be the most likely to pay it back? If you ask yourself that question, hands down, it would have been Vince. A lot of these kids had good ideas. They had a lot of research. But far and away, he presented himself as the most capable person that’s actually went out and done work and built a business.” Vince’s confidence waned by the time of the regional finals in Provo on May 4. But as soon as he entered the venue, iHub, his anxiety was replaced with “peace and comfort that (he) was going to do well.” His hunch was confirmed when the organizers brought an oversized check onstage. The check, Vince said, was somewhat transparent, so he could see his last name on it before it was announced. He was full of excitement. On the check was a sum of $20,000.  Vince is going to use his winnings to add landscaping maintenance — like lawn mowing and weeding — to his list of services. His hope is to make his business self-sustaining by the time he leaves on a mission trip for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a little over a year.  That starts with hiring new employees and training them to do landscaping work on their own. Right now, Vince said his 17-year-old cousin, Jack, is the only of his four employees who could handle a job without constant supervision and guidance.  A young Jack, left, and Vince Witt do landscaping work on Ben Witt’s property. That’s in no small part because Vince and Jack have been landscaping since they were about 7 years old. Their work started when Jack’s dad, Ben, purchased a 2-acre tree farm in Heber City in 2016. On weekends, Vince and Jack would help with everything from laying landscape fabric to installing drip irrigation. Then, about four years ago, Vince’s father, Joe Witt — a prominent homebuilder in Wasatch and Summit counties and who died in an avalanche while snowmobiling in the Snake Creek area in February — allowed Vince and Jack to do the landscaping on a spec home. The boys did such a good job that Joe increasingly recruited them for projects, including a house that appeared in the Park City Showcase of Homes. Vince’s mother, Terri, said Joe’s trust in Vince demonstrated his ability to believe in people. “That’s what attracted me most to my husband,” she said. “He saw things in me that I never thought for myself, and then, I started believing them.” Since Vince was about 10, he had aspirations to buy his own truck, work for his dad and inherit the family business, Terri said. Today, he owns two company trucks for his landscaping business. Vince, right, and Jack Witt after a long day of landscaping work. Outside of work, Vince loves dirt biking, snowmobiling, boating and camping.  “I really don’t like being inside,” he explained. In fact, after seeing the reactions of happy customers, the most fulfilling aspect of landscaping for Vince is how dirty and hands-on it can be. “I’m literally just covered in dirt right now,” he explained after a five-hour job. “I kind of like going home because I feel like I did something important. I got a job done. And then, when I’m home, it’s relaxing. I can be clean.” Vince and Jack work from sunrise to sunset most days.  “We’re right side by side, and we honestly just grind,” Vince said. “You’ve got to be willing to do the stuff no one else wants to do.” Ben said he’s seen the boys work 15-hour days. “(They’re) only 17, but (they have) more experience than most people in their 20s do. Tremendous work ethic. … Grit, determination, very smart, very business savvy,” he said. Ben said Vince’s win represented his reaching the potential Joe saw in him.  “(Joe) encouraged me to start my own business and was probably my biggest cheerleader, my biggest fan. And I could see that he wanted to put Vince on that same trajectory,” Ben said. “He knew the kid would be a success and told me that he was super excited for Vince to go to Invest Nest. That was the last conversation that I had with my brother. So, to see Vince win that, I felt like it was a fulfillment of Joe’s dream.” The post Wasatch High School junior takes home $20,000 in student entrepreneurship contest appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less