Casey Schilling - April 2025 Entrepreneur of the Month
The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and North Iowa Area SBDC are proud to announce Casey Schilling of K2 Enterprises in Britt, IA as the April 2025 Entrepreneur of the Month.
Casey Schilling founded K2 Enterprises at the age of 15 and turned his passion for outdoor work into a growing business that offers lawn care, waste removal, and landscape dirt work services. Casey is taking K2 Enterprise from idea to reality, driven by his determination to work for himself and constantly improve. Casey was inspired to start K2 Enterprises after working for someone in a similar field. Watching how others operated gave him the motivation to launch his own business and find ways to make it more efficient. “I like to take a look at something and see how I can make it more efficient, make it worth my time, make it worth someone else’s time, and how I can do the best job I can,” he said. Although he always wanted to be his own boss, he didn’t expect the business to expand so quickly. “I never thought it was going to be where we’re at now with lawn care, snow removal, dirt work, and land clearing,” Casey said.
Balancing school with running K2 Enterprises requires discipline and long hours. “I’ll do my school, everything there, and just work after school and on free days and on the weekends,” Casey explained. He often spends weekends working on jobs or managing equipment. When the workload requires extra hands, he calls on friends to help. “Sometimes I’ll have my buddies come over and help me. If it’s more than a one-person job or if I can’t move all the equipment on my own, I think it’s important to have that kind of relationship where you could be friends. But when you’re working, they understand what needs to be done and how it needs to be done to my expectation.”
Casey has worked with the NIACC Pappajohn Center and the Youth Entrepreneurial Academy to help him develop as a business owner. “The people at the Pappajohn Center are very helpful. I know anytime I have a question, even if it’s something small, I can call over there and I’ll get the answer I need,” he said. Casey participated in the 2024 Youth Entrepreneurship Academy (YEA) and has used the lessons learned there to take his business dreams to new heights.
YEA is a five-day summer camp held on the NIACC campus on Monday June 16 – Friday, June 2, 2025. At YEA, North Iowa high school students learn the fundamental kills of starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur. YEA emphasizes hands-on learning and connecting with local entrepreneurs, and culminates in a pitch competition where students can compete for cash prizes. YEA gave Casey firsthand exposure to other businesses, local mentors, and the opportunity to ask questions. “The stuff we did, the places we visited, you get to see how other people run other things. You get to ask questions. There’s a lot of new ideas there,” Casey said. He also values the unexpected knowledge gained from YEA, noting the impact of learning new things. “Even if it’s not strictly tied to your business, maybe you’ll see a different way to go about something – a better way to do something [or] something you never thought about,” he said.
Casey’s advice to fellow entrepreneurs of any age is to keep going and embrace the learning process. “Just the reward of getting after something, seeing you complete something, how well something turned out,” he said. Casey also believes it’s important to maintain a work-life balance. “Your business means a lot to you, but you can live outside of it. Make time to be outside of it,” he said.
For Casey, one of the most rewarding parts of founding his business is seeing the results of his hard work. “It’s rewarding being able to see the job that I have done or hearing people talk about it, ‘Yeah, you did a really nice job there,’” he said. Casey continues to expand K2 Enterprises, taking on larger projects and building a reputation for quality service. His journey demonstrates how passion, persistence, and a willingness to learn can drive a business forward, even at a young age.