2020 Big Idea Pitch Finalists and Winners

The Recyclist

SAM CHEATHAMTHIRD PLACE WINNER My name is Sam Cheatham. I am a marketing/management major from Asheville, North Carolina. I am inspired to pitch my Big Idea because not only do I not like having to carry around a bike helmet, but I also want to demonstrate my commitment to sustainability. My idea is a product that will help people improve the sustainability and convivence of wearing a bicycle helmet without compromising on safety. This foldable helmet is designed to fit comfortably inside of a backpack or messenger bag. The product will be created using a 3D-printed mold and recycled, melted down bottle caps. This can be created inexpensively using a recycling program at my former high school and Katherine Harper Hall on Appalachian's campus.

 

Duke Street Cottages

Rob HowardMy name is Rob Howard. I am a graduate student in the Department of Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment. My Big Idea is to build a pocket neighborhood of sustainable, affordable homes in Granite Falls, North Carolina. Duke Street Cottages will be located on a one-acre parcel across the street from the local brewery within walking distance of downtown. All nine of the homes will be built to the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home standard with the goal of achieving a net-zero energy community. We hope to partner with the Town of Granite Falls and Duke Energy to create a microgrid that serves as a model for other municipal electric utilities to follow. Most importantly, we seek to provide a greater diversity of housing choices with small homes that anyone can afford, including recent college graduates with student loan debt and retirees on a fixed income. Duke Street Cottages will prove that sustainable is attainable! With spacious front porches overlooking a shared green space, these small homes will live large. Traditional architecture will be blended with open floor plans and modern technology to provide the home of the future, today.

Stage Hands

Unique Perez and Bravin TroyMy name is  Unique Perez and this is my business partner Bravin Troy. I am a social work major from Marshville, North Carolina, and I created Stage Hands because I saw a need for a safe and creatively charged alternative to traditional childcare! My partner Bravin is a communication studies major who grew up in Bolivia, North Carolina. Stage Hands is an idea for a non-profit theatre organization that teaches 13 to 17-year-olds in underserved communities about their inherent self-worth and legitimizes theater careers. In this program, students will learn the basics of theater and develop the skills needed to perform.  Ages 13 to 17 are the most impressionable years of a young person's life. By providing parents experiencing low income with a safe and creatively charged environment for their children, we will reduce the possibility of youth committing crimes or joining gangs. Our theater program will be used as a tool for understanding, education, and development. 

Undrstnd

Chandler RoffeyMy name is Chandler Roffey. I am a senior Graphic Design student from Conover, North Carolina. My current focus is on user experience and human-centered design. My Big Idea stems from personal frustration and stress created by our nation's current financial aid system. Undrstnd is designed to be a tool used from a student’s early college planning days all the way until they make that last loan payment – allowing a student to analyze and accept aid packages from schools and compare their education costs to their potential future earnings. Financial aid doesn’t need to be complicated. Instead, it needs to be clear, concise, and easy to navigate, allowing a student to make educated decisions that can impact a lifetime. This platform is a tool that can be used by both students and schools to establish financial literacy, stay organized, and draw attention to the importance of responsibly paying for higher education. 

Because Brush

James SmithFIRST PLACE WINNER My name is James Smith. I am from Pinehurst, North Carolina, and I am majoring in Marketing/ Sales. The inspiration for my Big Idea came from just using a toothbrush every day. I realized the amount of waste that I was contributing by throwing away a toothbrush every time the bristles wore out. I also thought about it the fact that I am continuously repurchasing an item because a very small portion of it was going bad. So in an effort to save people time and money and reduce waste, I came up with the idea for a detachable toothbrush

Sunflowers

Ashley DecarloSECOND PLACE WINNER My name is Ashley DeCarlo. I am from New Fairfield, Connecticut, and I am a first-semester MBA student with a concentration in Leading and Managing Human Resources. The inspirations for my Big Idea are my two nephews who have autism and their amazing mother, my sister Niki. One in every five children born has learning and thinking differences. These challenges are caused by variations in how the brain develops but have nothing to do with intelligence (Understood.org). Only a small number of those children have the necessary accommodations needed to be provided by their school system. COVID is making these accommodations even harder to come by as accessibility and safety are very uncertain. Our mission is to create a way to help connect children with quality educational programs needed as well as reduce inequalities among people with disabilities. That is how the application Sunflowers: Growth for All was created. 

High Country Housing

Jake Kaufman AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD My name is Jake Kaufman. I’m a Risk Management and Insurance major graduating in May 2021. My hometown is Mooresville, North Carolina and my idea came from signing a bad lease and simply not having enough information from the current websites for student housing. My Big Idea is to create a website similar to ratemyprofessors.com but for housing and apartment leases in Boone. I will advertise all over campus with flyers and students will be able to add pictures and videos of their housing on the website. There will be a variety of questions for students to answer about their living experiences. Apartment complexes such as the Standard and the Cottages will be able to advertise through my website. I then plan to expand to other universities and use their mascot as the website URL. for example, UNC would be tarheelhousing.com.

Mobile Marketing

Tanner McElreathMy name is Tanner McElreath. I'm a marketing major from Fletcher, North Carolina. My Big Idea for a marketing content service stemmed from having the opportunity to work for Quis Machinery and currently being enrolled in ENT3060. Being exposed to a new type of industry at work while practicing having an entrepreneurial mindset led to me being more aware of where value can be added in my environment. My idea is for a marketing content service that would work with my current employer, Quis Machinery. Quis is an industrial machinery dealer who works in partnership with machinery manufacturers, typically in the woodworking industry. Mobile Marketing would be an independent company that would use the resources and connections of Quis to create marketable content for machinery manufacturers. Manufacturers that don't have marketing departments typically rely either on sales through dealers like Quis or their own sales team, but this method makes it difficult for quality content to be created and distributed to dealers. With Mobile Marketing, manufacturers wouldn’t have to pay for a full-time marketer, rather they could leverage our expertise by contracting us as needed. 

Frost Bank

jonah_smith_website_size.jpgMy name is Jonah Smith. I am a marketing major from Greensboro, North Carolina. My mom works in the medical field, and my inspiration comes from the many stories she has shared about how organ donations are transported between donor and patient. Did you know that in today's technologically advanced age we still use regular ice coolers to transport vital organs? My Big Idea is to use special refrigeration techniques to prolong the life of organs while they are in transit. With Frost Bank, the current eight-hour time frame constraint for a successful organ transport will be drastically improved to an eight to 12+ hour acceptable transport time frame. In turn, this improvement will translate into higher survival rates for organ transplant patients.  

Store Navigator

Adam WrightMy name is Adam. Wright. I am a Supply Chain Management major from Lexington, North Carolina. My Big Idea was inspired by being a grocery store worker for the past five years. With this time on the clock, I have observed what guests in our store need from me as an employee. The most common is the need to know the location of specific items within the store. My product, Store Navigator, will make that process easier for both guests and employees.