Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Eight East Tennessee State University (ETSU) student teams took the stage last week to pitch their ideas to tackle community challenges. A panel of judges selected three prize winners, and the crowd voted for its favorite.

In total, the ETSU Elevates Pitch Competition invested $25,000 into the region. The pitch competition kicked off the university’s second annual Founders Week, a celebration of ETSU’s history and mission to improve the lives of the people of the region.

ETSU Elevates featured eight projects that paired students with eight different community partners to address an economic, social, or environmental issue of their choice.

• The winner of the “People’s Choice Award” was Skylar Mittelsteadt, a business management major pictured in the feature image, who also took home the first prize from the judges. Her project is “Level the Field.” In partnership with the YMCA Kingsport, Mittelsteadt is collecting new/gently used sports gear (athletic shorts/shirts, socks, shin guards, cleats, etc.) and reallocating it to athletes in need.
• Earning second prize was Kyah Alese Powers, who is double-majoring in political science and philosophy. She pitched “Continuing the Stories of Recovery.” Powers and her community partner, Johnson City Recovery, seek to secure permanent funding for Recovery Community Centers (RCCs) by educating legislators on these new start-ups and fostering the replication of the Johnson City Recovery Center model throughout Tennessee.
• Third prize was awarded to Layne Maddox, a criminal justice major, whose project “Bike Layne” aims to increase bikeability within this region through higher participation and safer infrastructure through a two-phase plan. Maddox’s community partner is Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association Inc. (SORBA).

The ETSU Elevates judges included Andy Dietrich, Vice President and Co-Owner of Champion Chevrolet Cadillac; Melissa Roberts, Executive Director of the Appalachian Promise Alliance; and Aundrea Salyer, Chief Business Development Officer for the Kingsport Chamber’s Office of Small Business Development and Entrepreneurship.

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