Fresno State student Tyler Turk was named College Entrepreneur of the Year by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce at the 2016 Valley Business Awards and Installation Luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Fresno.

Turk’s business, Date in a Crate, is a subscription-box company designed to offer spontaneous and unique date-night ideas. Turk launched the business in December 2014 after coming up with the idea as part of the subscription-box project in the Laval Entrepreneur Mentor Program.

“It’s a great honor to receive this award, but I know that it would never have been possible without such a great support system around me,” Turk said. “My friends, mentors, family and of course my wife have been instrumental in my development as an entrepreneur. I just hope I can use this accomplishment to help further my goal of strengthening the entrepreneurial mindset in this community.”

Turk developed an entrepreneurial spirit right out of high school. He became an independent hip-hop artist, while earning a degree in commercial music at Sacramento’s American River College. Using self-taught marketing skills, Turk got his music featured on Rapzilla.com and Pandora.

In 2013, Turk transferred to Fresno State to pursue a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship and continued his music career. Turk won the 2014 Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) Regional Pitch Competition, representing Fresno State at the National CEO Conference in 2014 and 2015. Turk placed third in the 2015 conference. Earlier this year he was included in the 2016 Fellowship of the Future Founders Startup program.

For more information, contact Dr. Timothy Stearns at timothys@csufresno.edu or 559.278.3735.