TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 6, 2026 // PRNewswire // -- College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving® — a Tampa-based franchise offering junk removal and moving under one brand, with more than 150 locations and 370+ open and committed territories across North America — has signed Brady Wright, a senior at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, to develop the brand's Bloomington, Indiana territory. Wright plans to open the business before he graduates in spring 2027.
The scholarship itself has a fitting origin story: it grew out of a friendly bet between College H.U.N.K.S. Co-Founder Omar Soliman and Chief Legal Counsel & Development Officer Kelsie Ackman when Indiana and Miami met in the College Football Playoff National Championship. Wright learned about the opportunity from a television commercial, entered the competition, and was selected earlier this year. The scholarship covered the initial franchise fee for the Bloomington territory.
It did not, however, shorten the path to ownership. Wright still received and reviewed the company's Franchise Disclosure Document, visited College H.U.N.K.S. headquarters in Tampa, met with the franchise development team, and signed the same franchise agreement every College H.U.N.K.S. owner signs.
"We look for the same thing in every candidate, whether they're 25 years into a career or still finishing a degree: the drive to lead a team and build something that lasts," said Eric Osborne, Director of Franchise Development for College H.U.N.K.S. "Brady has it in spades, and this scholarship exists to find owners exactly like him."
Wright said the team in Tampa recognized his entrepreneurial drive and gave him room to build. In the months before signing, he shadowed Chad Jacob, owner of the College H.U.N.K.S. franchise in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and began building relationships with business and community leaders across Bloomington.
Wright, a lifelong Indiana resident, studies entrepreneurship and corporate innovation at Kelley. Since arriving at IU, he has fallen in love with Bloomington: its people, its atmosphere, and its sense of community. That connection is a big part of why he chose to build his business there and give back to a place that has given him so much.
The signing puts Wright in familiar company. College H.U.N.K.S. itself was started in 2003 by two college students, Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman, who hauled junk between classes in a borrowed cargo van in Washington, D.C. More than twenty years and 370-plus territories later, the brand has signed a college student to build it in a college town. With Bloomington now claimed, College H.U.N.K.S. is actively awarding 2026 franchise territories in two other Indiana markets: Fort Wayne and Evansville.
Wright describes himself as driven more by community impact than by profit, though he has one especially ambitious target: growing the Bloomington location faster than any College H.U.N.K.S. territory has grown before.
He is also documenting the entire journey on Instagram and TikTok under @BtownCollegeHunk, and he wants it to be about more than launching a moving company. Most entrepreneurship stories are told in hindsight, once the success is secured. Wright wants followers to see what it actually looks like to pursue something bigger than himself while the outcome is still unknown, including the mistakes, uncertainty, lessons, and relationships along the way, not just the wins.
"I'm 21, I definitely don't have everything figured out, and I feel like I have everything to prove," Wright said. "Building a successful company matters to me, but what excites me more is what that company can allow me to do for other people: create jobs, develop people, serve customers, support organizations in Bloomington, and hopefully leave this community better than I found it. Entrepreneurship can be a tool for service, and that's the story I want to document."
To learn more about College H.U.N.K.S., including franchising opportunities, visit collegehunksfranchise.com.
Founded in 2003 by Omar Soliman and Nick Friedman and franchising since 2007, College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving is one of North America's largest junk removal and moving franchises, with more than 150 locations and 370+ open and committed territories. The name stands for Honest, Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgeable, Service, and the franchise model pairs two revenue streams, junk removal and moving, inside a single territory. College H.U.N.K.S. ranked No. 383 on Entrepreneur's 2026 Franchise 500 and No. 39 on its 2025 Top Franchises for Veterans list.
SOURCE College HUNKS Hauling Junk and Moving
Not your typical junk haulers, the company provides professional, clean-cut teams to dispose of unwanted items.