Cammie Keeps the Community Caffeinated
Bismarck State College student Cammie Veldkamp spent her summer differently than most 20-year-olds: She opened her own business.
Jitterbug, Veldkamp’s mobile energy-drink stand, launched June 26, 2026 and traveled throughout the Bismarck-Mandan area during the summer. The business sells fruit-based Lotus energy drinks and posts its pop-up locations at car dealerships, local events, and businesses through Instagram and Facebook.
The business began with a rainy opening weekend in a Runnings parking lot near a Bismarck softball tournament. Veldkamp stood outside holding down an umbrella while operating the portable stand, an experience she said made for a difficult but memorable debut.
“I started with a stand because I wanted to start small, so I didn’t go straight to a food truck,” Veldkamp said. “It was raining all weekend, and so we just had an umbrella. We were standing out there holding the umbrella down. It wasn’t a great time, but it was a memorable time.”
Veldkamp funded Jitterbug with savings and chose a portable stand over a food truck to reduce startup costs. She said she built the stand as affordably as possible, relying on repeated trips to Menards.
The idea for Jitterbug developed this spring, but Veldkamp said she had made Lotus drinks at home for her friends for some time. After recognizing how much she enjoyed making the drinks, she decided to turn the idea into a business.
“I had an at-home setup, and I was always making that for my friends,” she said. “They were like, ‘You should totally sell these. That would go so great.’”
Jitterbug’s menu centers on Lotus concentrate, a plant-based energy product. Veldkamp said each drink contains 160 milligrams of caffeine and uses fruit fusions made with real fruit puree instead of traditional flavored syrups. Drinks may include ingredients such as pineapple juice, coconut milk and strawberry pieces.
Its best-selling drink is a Miami Vice-inspired strawberry piña colada, a combination that began after a customer asked whether she could make one.
“People love it,” Veldkamp said. “Most of our drinks are very fruit-centric. Pretty much any fruit, we have a drink in that kind of flavor.”
Although Veldkamp originally expected teenage girls and young mothers to be Jitterbug’s main customers, setting up in car dealerships and motorsports events drew technicians and motorcycle riders to the stand.
“I was shocked by the amount of blue-collar guys that wanted a fruity little energy drink,” she said.
The interest in entrepreneurship began early for Veldkamp. At 15, she started an online stationery store, and later ran a lawn-mowing business the summer after high school. Her father’s interest in starting businesses also influenced her.
“My dad has always been very entrepreneurially minded,” she said. “He was always starting one business or another.”
Originally from Jamestwon, her previous work experience also helped build Jitterbug. Veldkamp worked at a T-shirt shop in high school, where she learned Photoshop and worked as a graphic designer for three years. She designed Jitterbug’s branding and logo herself.
Starting the business came with challenges beyond choosing a menu and designing a brand. Veldkamp said the licensing, tax and health-inspection requirements took longer than she expected. Bismarck and Mandan required separate permits, which added to the process.
“I was not aware of how long it would take to get all of the licensing, all the tax licenses, all the health inspections,” she said. “It was really just a lot of googling.”
Veldkamp said now that she is back in school, academics are her priority. She expects to graduate in December after earning a four-year degree in Organizational Management and Leadership in two and a half years. Although she is technically a senior, this is her third year of college.
“Going to class is my number one priority,” she said. “When I have a gap in my classes, I can open up deliveries and say, ‘Hey, I’m doing deliveries today,’ and then I can make it happen.”
For students considering entrepreneurship, Veldkamp encouraged them to use their connections and seek advice. She credited BSC professor Nicole Morrison, former professor and local business owner Kevin Cavanaugh, and Jamestown friend Braxton Perkins, who had launched a drink trailer, as helpful resources.
“Your network is your best resource,” Veldkamp said. “Ask people that actually do business, instead of trying to do everything with just what you think you know.”
Although Veldkamp said she does not plan to expand Jitterbug significantly, she said the business has helped her learn what she wants next.
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