Sheridan business O3 creates a culture of reciprocity by donating a portion of Daniels Fund award prize to SCLT

A new Sheridan business has demonstrated its commitment to creating a culture of reciprocity by donating a portion of a prestigious award prize to a local nonprofit that shares its dedication to protecting the open spaces that define Sheridan County and connecting people to the outdoors for generations to come.

O3, a company dedicated to helping small businesses implement AI-driven marketing technologies, donated $1,000 to the Sheridan Community Land Trust (SCLT) during SCLT’s Backyard BBQ on August 28. O3’s gift is a portion of a $2,500 prize the company received by winning the Daniels Fund Ethical Startup Award at the recent John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition.

Dalton Gregory, founder and owner of O3 and recent University of Wyoming graduate with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship and a minor in blockchain, expressed his gratitude for the recognition.

“Winning the Daniels Fund Ethical Startup Award is an incredible honor for O3. It reaffirms our commitment to ethical business practices and allows us to give back to the Sheridan community,” he relayed.

Gregory, a sixth-generation Wyomingite, explained that he chose SCLT because the organization’s mission aligns with his values as a sixth-generation Wyoming and his company’s goal to create an ethic of reciprocity.

“It is important to me to preserve the integrity and landscape here so that my children can have the same experiences and opportunities I did growing up in Wyoming,” he said.

The gift will support SCLT’s work protecting open spaces, wildlife habitat, working ranches, and clean rivers and creeks while preserving local history and connecting people to nature and the outdoors in Sheridan County. Gregory’s gift was made as SCLT announced its intent to create the Big Goose Natural Area, which will create a protected, open space accessible to the community once the purchase of the property around its office is completed.

“We are grateful for Dalton and O3’s generosity and are honored to know he chose to ‘pay it forward’ by sharing a portion of his company’s award with us. SCLT will continue to ‘pay it forward’ by putting this gift to work connecting more people to land and history in Sheridan County,” said SCLT Executive Director Brad Bauer.

The award, sponsored by the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at the University of Wyoming, is presented to the startup with the best plan for creating an ethical culture within their organization.

O3 distinguished itself among the finalists with a comprehensive strategy centered on the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Principles: integrity, trust, accountability, transparency, fairness, respect, rule of law, and viability. The leadership team at O3 outlined a detailed approach to embedding these principles into their business operations, particularly focusing on cultivating transparency and ethical practices.

Their winning proposal committed to using the $2,500 prize to further develop their ethical framework and support community initiatives. Specifically, O3 plans to allocate $1,500 of the award to promoting their transparency tools and ethics training programs and donate $1,000 to support SCLT.