Winners named in two pitch competitions during first two days of “Startup Week CHA”
Other Milk Company, an alternative milk brand that makes and delivers oat and pecan milk right to your door, captured the vote of the judges to come out on top at Monday evening’s “Will This Float” competition during the first day of “Startup Week CHA.” The company was founded by Elizabeth Bounds.
Winner of the “Crowd Favorite” award was Nomad Be Happy and Outshine Adventures. The former is a customizable adventure van rental company focused on promoting the local experience while also promoting our city as a whole around the country, while the latter is dedicated to providing sustainable eco-tours, immersive outdoor experiences and custom travel itineraries that inspire people to adventure differently. The Founders are Sunshine Loveless (Outshine Adventures) and Robby and Lindsey Eskridge (Nomad Be Happy), pictured here with Bounds.
More than 100 people packed into Miller Plaza to watch eight Founders pitch new businesses, and two companies took home prizes. Bounds took home $3,000 for her start-up.
During the lunchtime “Sustainability & Recycling Pitch & Pilot Competition” yesterday, four entrepreneurs pitched ideas to make the earth a little cleaner, starting in Chattanooga. The competition, organized by the City of Chattanooga and CO.LAB, was designed to uncover creative ways to drive the waste management structures and infrastructure systems. Those ideas could include changes to technology, infrastructure, and the way residents are educated.
Norm Lavoie and Michael Ryan of New Terra Compost won the “Audience Choice Award” for their idea to increase composting and decrease trash pick-up which would also produce savings on fuel. The other presenters were:
- Brian Wright of Green for Good who is implementing three small pilot programs: one at home, work, and school. The vision is to capitalize on Chattanooga’s ability to have successful public-private partnerships and build a lasting sustainable culture that diverts recyclables and compost from landfills;
- Mackenzie Tapley and Jimmy Urciuoli with Green Steps, a program that aims to revamp communication and education about what is recyclable. Their plans involve updating signs, some of which are written on poster board, to let people know what can be recycled; and
- Chris Greenwood of Olivine Glass who is proposing crushing to turn glass into sand which can then be sold to garden centers, art stores and, eventually used for concrete aggregate.
