Updated Alabama Launchpad competition spotlights entrepreneurs
AUBURN, Alabama – Alabama’s entrepreneurs have a growing list of opportunities to showcase their innovative ideas. The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama is expanding its successful startup competition, and the newest site is Auburn. EDPA is partnering with the City of Auburn, Auburn University’s Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and the Auburn Research and Technology…
Florence culinary incubator stirs entrepreneurship dreams
FLORENCE, Alabama – Entrepreneurs looking to break into the highly competitive food industry have found invaluable tools and support in northwest Alabama. The Florence-based Shoals Entrepreneurial Center is home to a culinary incubator that offers a fully equipped, FDA-approved commercial kitchen for fledgling startups to rent at reasonable rates. Beyond that, the center’s staff provides…
Zyp BikeShare adds ‘grab and go’ way to travel in Birmingham
Hundreds of bright green bicycles have collectively logged nearly 100,000 miles crisscrossing Birmingham, as the city’s new bike sharing system has become a hit with residents and visitors alike. Zyp BikeShare, an initiative of REV Birmingham that launched in October 2015, gives riders a new way to make a quick trip to the grocery store,…
Alabama’s ‘Sock Queen’ weaves entrepreneurial vision into family business
FORT PAYNE, Alabama – It’s been a big year for Gina Locklear and her Alabama-made socks. The Fort Payne native and her business have turned heads across the U.S., first as a winner of domestic guru Martha Stewart’s American Made Awards and later as the subject of a New York Times feature which dubbed her…
Alabama Innovation Fund provides boost for UNA UX center
FLORENCE, Alabama – The Alabama Innovation Fund is providing more than $80,000 to advance plans by the University of North Alabama (UNA) to set up a center that assists entrepreneurs and gives students valuable hands-on experience. UNA’s College of Business is getting $81,300 from the Innovation Fund for a proposed User Experience (UX) Accelerator Center,…
Startup Sun Charge Systems eyes solar solution for mobile world
CLEVELAND, Alabama – In the workshops at Hornsby Steel, hulking machines bend and curve steel plates, pipes and rods to the exacting specifications of architects and builders. And it’s the Blount County firm’s manufacturing know-how that’s at the heart of a new venture that aims to keep mobile devices charged when people are on the…
6 startup teams advance to Alabama Launchpad final round
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Alabama Launchpad, a premier entrepreneurship competition, announced that six startup teams are one step closer to winning a share of up to $250,000 that could help them to take their venture to the next level. Ten teams competed last week at Evonik Industries’ Birmingham location in the first pitch event for the…
Alabama couple finds recipe for success in sprouted wheat
FITZPATRICK, Alabama — Peggy Sutton’s business may have started out as a hobby in this rural Alabama hamlet, but today her fast-growing To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co. sells its whole grain products to big-name food industry players and health-conscious customers around the world. In a Bullock County base just off U.S. Highway 82, the…
Alabama Community College System building support network for entrepreneurs
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – The Alabama Community College System, a key workforce development component in the state, is stepping up efforts to prepare the next generation of Alabama business owners with initiatives to help budding entrepreneurs increase their chances of success. “The Alabama Community College System holds the key to the state’s workforce development needs, and…
