Thatcher — EAC’s SBDC on Friday gave local entrepreneurs a chance to get feedback from business experts, take home up to $1,500 in cash, and an additional $10,000.
The first participation in Graham County’s Moonshot Program took place at the Academic Building on the EAC’s Thatcher campus, and Roycycled Treasures owner Royce Huntbell took first place.
“Today was a workshop,” Huntbell said. “The pitch was the end result, but the work we put in throughout the day was worth a lot.”
Local business owners talk about their needs in growing their business and how to use their winnings. Huntbell said he sought help developing a warehouse for his company’s decoupage paper products and connecting with manufacturers based in Arizona.
She will next head to Flagstaff on July 28 to re-market her business and its needs to 10 other winners from across the state for a top prize of $10,000.
Second place and $1,000 went to Shawna Taylor to help grow her business Heart of Valor. Hearts of Valor offers equine therapy and specialty programs for foster program children, children with special needs, at-risk youth, veterans and more.
The third prize of $500 went to Joao Hernandez. He plans to use the money to market his business, Sunflower Environmental, which trains the industry on safety and how to avoid environmental incidents.
A special scholarship to the Moonshot Training Program was awarded to Alexa Rose for her work with the freeze-dried candy business, Space Snacks. Rhodes aims to double its production capacity.
“For Graham and Greenlee counties, we had great representation,” SBDC Director Eric Bejarano said. “We’ve represented many different kinds of[businesses]. Even just the people who gave the presentations had different personalities. Good; it was a great day.”
The judge was Brandi Szymanski, rural lending manager at Community Investment Corporation. V. Faith Richie, Senior Program Manager, Arizona Department of Commerce. Kirsten Hascock, founder of Mod Mom Furniture. and Scott Hascock, President and CEO of Moonshot.
“This is our way of auditing local talent and seeing where the mindset is and ultimately what we can really strengthen and grow,” said Scott Hascock. said. “Towns often have an idea of where they want to go, but that idea doesn’t always suit the talented people. We are creating these events to better understand what people are thinking, what they are dreaming about, etc. And at some point we will take a more strategic approach to future economic development. .”
In addition to the first prize of $1,500, Hunt-Bell will receive six months of free business Internet service from Valley Telecom and a three-day Quickbooks online course through SBDC.
Editor’s Note: Huntbell is the wife of reporter David Bell.
