SBC at Western Piedmont Community College Presented A Unique Way to Support Local Businesses This Summer

The SBC held its inaugural “Elevate Burke: Innovation Expedition” business pitch competition Monday, June 10, at its new headquarters at the MoCo co-working space in Morganton.

Lily Laramie, SBC director, solicited applications from local businesses and people with ideas to start a business to enter the competition to win funding for their entrepreneurial endeavors. Each application included a business plan, pitch deck and financial information.

The prize was a $1,200 grant for the winning business, provided by Small Business Champion sponsor Eileen Conway of NanoNoggin, a business consulting service, and Startup Support sponsor McCabe’s Tire and Service of Morganton.

“I sponsored the pitch competition because Lily Laramie had a dream to start it, but didn’t have the budget,” Conway said. “Her dedication inspired me to help make it happen.”

Laramie chose the following finalists from the applications:

· Andrew Jackson, arborist and owner of True as Trees, a holistic plant health service

· Alex Wiseman, owner of Candor Guitars, a custom guitar-building shop featuring original designs

· Andrew Dennis, a local attorney and owner of Table Rock Law, a legal services agency

· Pam Genant and Vaishali “Vee” Amar, owners of Rasoi on the Run Commercial Kitchen, an Indian food service

The finalists were required to attend a three-day pitch workshop, taught by Laramie, in which they learned techniques to improve their presentation skills.

“The participants were very engaged,” Laramie said. “They truly cared about the workshop and final pitch. While it was an intense weekend (Friday through Sunday with pitches on Monday), they powered through it, and I think made some lifelong friends along the way. By the end, they were all very confident in their understanding of their businesses, both in their heads, and on paper in their business and financial plans.”

The presentations were judged by a panel made up of Laramie, Kerri Poteat, Rick Furse and Nancy Daniel. The judges chose Jackson and his True as Trees business as the winner.

“When it came down to it, the $1,200 sponsor grant was going to make the biggest impact on Andrew, and he was going to make the biggest impact on the health and wellness of Burke County’s natural playground,” Laramie said. “The grant funds will go toward purchasing tree injection equipment that not only helps his business expand into new territory, but also helps preserve our trees. My hope for Andrew is that he will be able to continue to grow his following as a tree rescuer and natural arborist in Burke County and beyond.”

Jackson shared the lessons he learned from participating in the event.

“As a first-time business owner, I learned that any sort of doubts, hurdles or questioning were completely normal,” Jackson said. “There are natural growing pains to starting a business, and that’s OK — don’t sweat the process too much, because everyone is going through it.”

He described how he felt pitching his business idea to the judges.

“There was some anxiety that came with pitching the business for the first time, but remembering to breathe and truly believing in our services helped to settle the nerves,” Jackson said. “It went from feeling like I was selling an idea to just talking about my passions.”

He said winning the competition has boosted his confidence.

“The real reward was participating with such creative and inspiring entrepreneurs,” Jackson said. “It was an honor to share that space with them, and I value the connections we made.”

He is excited about this opportunity to further his mission in becoming a “regional leader in tree preservation.”

“We want to help educate folks on the need for sustainable tree care so they can better understand the benefit of the trees in their own landscape,” Jackson said. “We also plan to engage with the community by hosting annual tree-planting days, where we gather donations and volunteers from around Burke County to go out and enhance the city’s canopy. Stay tuned for updates on our inaugural event!”

As winner of the competition, Jackson will receive continued support and coaching from the SBC.

“I am honestly ecstatic at how well the competition went, and our amazing group of participants,” Laramie said. “I do plan to host another pitch competition next year, so if anyone is interested in participating either as a sponsor, partner or participant, reach out to me!” Laramie can be reached at llaramie@wpcc.edu or 828-448-6719.

To learn more about True as Trees, visit trueastrees.com or contact andrew@trueastrees.com.