By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Grow Hays hosted its first “Shark Tank”-style Pitch It session Tuesday night at BriefSpace.
Competitors proposed a diverse range of products and services. A Fort Hays State University student proposed an app that could alert you to gunshots in the area. Another young man proposed building fire starters that use a chemical reaction. Other presenters included an art therapy nonprofit, a quilter, a service to help people increase their credit scores and a entrepreneur with his own line of vape juice.
Each presenter had five minutes to pitch with three minutes for questions from the judges. The winner went home with a $500 cash prize.
Chroma Quilting
Amanda Legleiter, owner of Chroma Quilting, was the winner of the challenge and took home the prize money. She hopes to move her business out of her basement and into a Hays storefront.
Legleiter uses a long-arm quilter to create throws, T-shirt quilts and complete other projects. She also would like to offer quilting classes. In the local market, Legleiter said she found there were long wait times at current quilting business and a large number of long-arm quilters retiring from the industry.
She said by creating more visibility she hopes to increase her client base.
SafetEaves
Hayden Hutchison, a Fort Hays State University student, proposed an app that would alert the user of a gunshot in the area.
The app is based on similar technology marketed by ShotSpotter, which is being used in neighborhoods by law enforcement to detect gunshots and increase response times.
Hutchison said gunshots have a unique audio fingerprint that is distinguishable from other similar sounds that might cause a false alert, such as the sound of a gunshot on a TV.
“It would give users time to take precautions and get to a safe environment,” Hutchison said.
The personal security market is growing and is expected to be about $29 billion by 2022. He said he and his partners plan to market the app on a subscription basis.
Hutchison and his partners are looking for a software engineer to help develop the app.
Surtr fire starter
Parker Holterman pitched his Surtr fire starter. The device ejects and ignites a petroleum pellet with a single motion. Unlike other devices that only create sparks and require the user to tend kindling, the Surtr pellets remain lit in all weather conditions for several minutes. The device holds four replaceable pellets.
He has a patent on the device, but has yet to manufacture any of the devices.
Holterman has a company in Wichita that can manufacture the devices and a source for the fuel. His initial investment would depend on what type of quantity discount he could secure for his initial order.
The fire starter market in 2018 was worth $38 million and camping is on an upward trend.
Angels and Umbrellas
Mitch Lindeman of Norton wants to start a nonprofit called Angels and Umbrellas to offer arts instruction to people who suffer from mental illness.
Lindeman himself is a recovering addict and has mental illness. He said art and music has been instrumental in his recovery and he would like to offer that to others who have similar problems.
When he was in rehab, he played a piano in the center’s music room. Soon people were asking him for lessons. This inspired him to reach out to others through the arts.
“Our mission is to teach members coping skills through expressing themselves through art, music, poetry and creative thinking and to focus on the positive side of these illnesses and change the way we look at mental health,” he said.
Lindeman said he wanted to open a storefront with spaces for art, woodworking, music and other creative endeavors. He also wanted to launch a website that would allow people to share their creations and positive actions in their communities. He said he already has volunteers willing to teach arts courses. The non-profit would sell art projects its to help offset costs.
He has taken the first steps to creating his non-profit, but still needs to file paperwork with the federal government to become a 501(c)3.
Credit Repair Services
Robert Readle, a local real estate agent, said he wanted to address the increasing problem of people with low credit scores.
A low credit score can affect the ability to obtain a mortgage and other types of credit. It can also affect interest rates.
“So many people underestimate what is going to take to fix this,” he said.
He said it can take months to get problems corrected and it is not a do-it-yourself project.
“Credit bureaus don’t make money by taking your call and fixing what is wrong on the report. They make money collecting data and reselling it, so you are really a thorn in their side. If you don’t know what you are doing, you can really mess it up,” he said.
Although there are some large national companies that offer similar services, Readle said he thought there was a niche for a local business who could offer a personal face-to-face touch.
He said he sees a couple of levels of service, including initial credit repair then a credit monitoring service. Software is available to aid in this type of work, but Readle said he needs a qualified partner, as he already works a full-time job.
“It would benefit our community with higher home ownership and less month-to month costs in budgets by lower interest rates on their loans,” he said.
Hazy Dayz Vapes
Donavan Rogers is seeking a $50,000 investment to open his own vape shop in Hays — Hazy Dayz Vapes.
He has his own vape blend, Throat Punch Vape Juice. He would like to open a storefront in Hays from which he could wholesale or retail Throat Punch as well as sell other vape juices.
He told the group he already has the licenses in place to sell vape juices, but needs between $25,000 and $30,000 to order inventory.
The vape industry is booming, going from $4.2 billion in sales four years ago to $22.4 billion in sales today.
He told the judges his business plan projected he would be able to turn a profit within the first month and he saw room for growth regionally.
One of the judges asked about health concerns associated with vaping. Rogers used vaping to stop smoking and said he feels he is healthier than when he was a smoker.
Doug Williams, Grow Hays director, said he would like to have at least three more Pitch It events this year.
Corrected 12:55 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24 for the spelling of Hayden Hutchison’s name.