Applications open next week for PYA-sponsored “Tom Ballard Innovation Award”
By Kailyn Lamb, Marketing Content Writer and Editor, PYA
PYA, the power behind teknovation.biz, has announced that applications for the second annual “Tom Ballard Innovation Award” will open on January 12. The award allows emerging companies to compete for a $50,000 investment of capital and in-kind services to support their innovative ideas. It is the largest combination of cash and in-kind services available to East Tennessee start-ups.
“As we once again open the floor for entries for the ‘Ballard Innovation Award,’ it is our goal to highlight and help East Tennessee entrepreneurs with supportive strategies that further their entrepreneurial efforts,” said Marty Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer of PYA. “This award allows us to connect with those innovators to help them grow and thrive as an established part of our community.”
Interested entrepreneurs should download, complete, and submit an application form found on the application page. Applicants are encouraged to submit links to videos, articles, multimedia presentations, or other supporting documentation.
The application deadline is on February 9. Winners will be announced on March 9. In addition to the top prize valued at $50,000, second and third place come with $10,000 and $5,000 respectively in in-kind strategy support from PYA which was itself a start-up in late 1983 when the firm was founded in Knoxville. Today, through a variety of service lines, PYA has clients in all 50 states. The firm is ranked by Forbes as one of the Top Tax and Accounting Firms in the Nation, and among the nation’s Top 100 largest CPA firms by INSIDE Public Accounting, PYA is also a leader in the percentage of female ownership, is a Top 15 auditor of the nation’s largest health systems, and is consistently ranked as one of the country’s Top 20 healthcare consulting firms by Modern Healthcare.
As many of our readers will know, the award is named for Tom Ballard, teknovation.biz editor. The 2021 winner of the first place award was 490 BioTech, which has developed bioluminescent technologies that enable new drugs to move more quickly through the pharmaceutical testing process. You can learn more about the company in a video produced by PYA’s new video services team. Eonix, LLC, a battery company, and Ascend Manufacturing, which works in 3D printing technology, placed second and third, respectively.
Read more about last year’s award in this teknovation.biz article.
