[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]People often take pride in their hometown or place of residence, and two University of Wisconsin students decided to take advantage of that fact two years ago.

If UW students checked their e-mail in the last few days, they may have noticed the message from Sconnie.com, a website that began as a business venture but turned into a celebration of the state.

The Sconnie Nation movement began in the spring semester of 2004 in Kronshage Hall. Described as "one of those ideas that comes on a Wednesday night of getting drunk," UW students Ben Fiechtner and Troy Vosseller came up with an idea that struck gold.

"We were always throwing ideas around about things we could do and businesses we could start," Vosseller said. "We finally came up with the idea that merchandise would be a possibility for us that could work."

According to Fiechtner, the idea to trademark the term "Sconnie" and put it on a T-shirt was natural for the entrepreneurs because the word had become a large part of their vocabulary. People seemed to identify with it, and sales were quite easy.

"We both put $300 of our own money into it to begin that first summer," Fiechtner said. "Within four days our friends had bought all our merchandise, and we knew we were on to something."

After the success of the first order, the business side of things began to expand. Vosseller said they created a website as soon as possible and began taking online orders on top of pushing their products locally.

Over the course of the last two years, the Sconnie Nation business evolved. It began as two guys printing shirts in their apartment and selling them to friends, relying on word-of-mouth for advertisement.

Then it became huge, as Sconnie Nation, now with four other employees, features a vastly expanded product line. The business offers custom screen printing for groups like fraternities, sororities and student organizations, sales through the University Bookstore and even an official street site near Camp Randall on football game days.

And even with such a wide distribution, they still print everything from their apartment.

UW junior Jeff Miller, a student in the business school familiar with the company, said what the two have done thus far is remarkable, especially considering the limited resources they started with.

"From starting without too much working capital to the expansion they've seen, with the website and the increased product line — it's really impressive they've gotten things up and running so fast," he said.

Though the business has progressed exceptionally for the company, Fiechtner and Vosseller both said they were more proud of the expansion of Sconnie Nation as an idea.

"It's really more of a lifestyle than just a brand on a T-shirt," Fiechtner said. "We want people to be openly proud of the fact that they love Wisconsin and living like it."

Vosseller emphasized that when people think of Wisconsin, they think of cheese, brats, beer and any combination of the three.

"It's the best feeling when we get an order from across the country from people who are in love with the Sconnie idea, or when someone sends us photos of people wearing Sconnie stuff," Vosseller said.

Because beer is such a large part of Wisconsin, and because Sconnie Nation is "about the students," the two have updated the website to include the drink specials at every bar they know. Fiechtner said they are also talking with some bar owners about a Sconnie Nation promotion, but as of now, that idea is unrealized.

When asked to look toward the future, both Fiechtner and Vosseller said they never want to see the Sconnie Nation movement stop — even though both said they will not run the business after graduating from UW.

"We want it to be a student-run business," Fiechtner said. "When we leave we'll still try to be a part of it, but we want students to be running things. We want this movement to last forever."