Matt Anderson
Children's Home Society
Greensboro, NC

Matt Anderson

Children's Home Society

Panelist: David Making a Scene in a Goliath Industry

Matt Anderson has extensive experience in the youth services field with a focus on child welfare, youth engagement and the creative use of media as a catalyst for change. He is the co-owner of Porch Productions and produced the feature documentary, From Place to Place, about three foster care alumni who set out to change the system that raised them. Matt currently works in Greensboro for the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina on a project to expand and sustain the Family Finding practice in North Carolina.

John Austin
@johndeeaustin
Groundwork Labs
Durham, NC

John Austin

Groundwork Labs

Panelist: Accelerating the Growth Company Scene

John is the Managing Director of Groundwork Labs, a tech accelerator in Durham, NC.  He has extensive experience with software and hardware startups and a love of coaching and mentoring young entrepreneurs.  From 1998-2005 he was CEO of Numerical Design, Ltd., one of the first, and one of the video game industry’s leading providers of game engines and tools.  In 2005 the company was acquired by Emergent Game Technologies, where he continued on the executive team until 2010.  Prior to NDL/Emergent, John was President of Division, Inc., a virtual reality startup that was acquired by HP, and he has also held engineering and management positions at Sun Microsystems, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Harris Corp.

John earned a M.S in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1984 and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Valparaiso University in 1977.

Charlie Ball
Troy & Sons Distillers
Asheville, NC

Charlie Ball

Troy & Sons Distillers

Panelist: Don't Just Sit There. Brew Something!

Charlie Ball and his wife Troy founded Troy & Sons Distillers in 2010 and with angel investor and mentor Oscar Wong, they built their state-of-the- art distillery in Asheville next to Highland Brewing. Like Oscar, Charlie is an engineer and with his MBA he worked internationally in both real estate and engineering and as Master Distiller he designed, built and operates the distillery. Charlie trained in Chicago and Germany and Troy & Sons Distillers is the first legal distillery in western NC since prohibition.

Matt Bateman
Venture Local Franklin
Franklin, NC

Matt Bateman

Venture Local Franklin

Panelist: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

Matt oversees a tourism startup company based in Franklin, NC called Stay And Play In The Smokies . The vision behind the brand is to provide both visitors and locals alike a local’s perspective on trip planning within southwestern NC’s Smoky Mountains.

He is also heavily involved in the local grassroots movement, Venture Local Franklin. "VLF strives to collaboratively strengthen the regional economy, embrace our natural resources, establish common goals, drive innovation and nurture entrepreneurial ventures with the ultimate goal of moving Franklin forward."

Matt has a seat on the Franklin Tourism Development Authority, helping to make decisions that strengthen Franklin’s local economy and provide opportunities for entrepreneurial growth.

Randy Beavers
BotaniPharm
Candler, NC

Randy Beavers

BotaniPharm, LLC

Panelist: Bootstrap Botanicals

Randy is the Author and Principal Investigator on a series of eight Small Business Innovation Research awards from the USDA and the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.   This work focused on the development of small farm organic production and processing systems for high value forest grown medicinal plants, particularly those which have been overcollected to endangered/threatened status.

BotaniPharm, LLC, a 100% grower-owned botanical product company, is a direct outcome of those efforts.  Formed as a cooperative of 14 small family operated farms, the company seeks to pool production, process it internally, then market under a common brand name.  The result is enhanced profitability for growers, reduced need for endangered wild collected plants to meet market demand, and a more reliable products for consumers, true triple bottom line benefits.

The company’s primary technological strength lies in a paradigm changing method of standardizing botanical products to predictable levels of bioactivity about which the NIH Center for Scientific Review stated “may become an industry standard for future standardization protocols”.  BotaniPharm is currently facilitating future NIH funded human botanical product safety and efficacy studies through use of the process to produce a series of research grade products from Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal).

Jason Berry
Footsloggers
Boone, NC

Jason Berry

Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters

Panelist: Passion to Profit

Spending his formative years in Western NC taking advantage of the rich outdoor recreation opportunities, Jason has had a passion for the outdoor life from a young age.  After taking residence in Boone in 1998, Jason began to search for the career that would encompass this lifestyle, and also allow meaningful interaction with the community.  After a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2001, an opportunity was made available by the owner of the store at which Jason worked part-time during studies at Appalachian State University.

This August, Jason completed a 7-year buyout of Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters, an outdoor retail business that was founded in 1971.  With stores in Boone and Blowing Rock, the business has become an increasingly important contributor these communities.

Jason sits on the board of the Downtown Boone Development Association and works regularly with Appalachian State University's Center for Entrepreneurship.  His network of 'happy hikers' grows daily, as he works one-on-one with customers to outfit and prepare them to have more fun in the woods.

Todd Branham
Blue Ridge Adventures
Pisgah Forest, NC

Todd Branham

Blue Ridge Adventures

Panelist: Take It Outside: Creating an Outdoor Scene

Todd Branham grew up in Columbia, SC and started racing mountain bikes in his early 20s, accumulating a host of National titles. He soon secured a job at one of Columbia's best bike shops, Outspokin', where he worked while earning a dual degree in Marketing and Management. Todd soon founded Blue Ridge Adventures as a mountain bike guide service in Pisgah National Forest as well as promoter of mountain bike races and running events in the area. In 2009, Blue Ridge Adventures began extending its timing services to other friends that promote races.
Todd is also a partner in Long Cane Trails, LLC, a Carolina based trail building company specializing in trail layout, design and construction of multi-use trails intended for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.

Greg Broom
Redeye Distribution
Chapel Hill, NC

Greg Broom

Redeye Distribution

Panelist: Scene and Heard: The Business of Music

Greg Broom is Senior Project Manager with Redeye Distribution. Based in Haw River, NC, Redeye began in 1996 to focus on the independent
music of the southeast and give the artists that made up the scene a distribution option to give them access to all the retail accounts located in their region. Since then, Redeye has charted a course of steady, sustainable growth by developing a strong physical and digital distribution network both nationally and internationally and providing a multitude of services to its partners.

Rosetta Star Baun
Rosetta's Kitchen
Asheville, NC

Rosetta Star

Rosetta's Kitchen

Moderator: David Making a Scene in a Goliath Industry

Rosetta Star opened Rosetta’s Kitchen, downtown Asheville’s whole-foods kitchen & café, in 2002. It is owned by the Wezeltown tribe and managed by a handful of dedicated employees planning to become a collectively operated business. Rosetta’s Kitchen has grown to be a popular stop for foodies, health nuts, vegetarians, and curious tourists. Rosetta recently launched a private food label for veggie burgers that is now in Ingles supermarkets. She grew up in Old Fort, NC.

 

Ashley Capps
@AshleyCapps
AC Entertainment / Moogfest
Asheville, NC

Ashley Capps

AC Entertainment / Moogfest

Panelist: Scene and Heard: The Business of Music

Ashley Capps started promoting concerts as a hobby during his senior year at the University of Tennessee. When the nightclub he was managing in Knoxville closed in 1990, Ashley arranged for Winton Marsalis to play at the UT Music Hall and sold it out. Ashley had become a producer. In 2002 he founded the Bonnaroo 4-day outdoor music festival on a farm near Manchester, TN that is still going. In 2010 his company AC Entertainment helped bring Moogfest to Asheville from New York as a 3-day event in October.

Diane Cherry
Institute for Emerging Issues
Raleigh, NC

Diane Cherry

NCSU Institute for Emerging Issues

Panelist: Creating a Co-Working Scene on Main St.

Diane overseas core activities of the NCSU Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI)’s policy process focusing on environment, infrastructure and energy. Prior to joining IEI, she worked as a budget and management analyst for the City of Raleigh, overseeing the development of the city’s operating and capital budgets. Diane has also worked as an environmental policy analyst at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In addition to her government experience, she spent time in Washington D.C. at Resources for the Future, Inc. and as a government consultant.

She holds a graduate degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Virginia. Diane serves on the board of the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association and is a graduate of Leadership North Carolina.

Shane Cooper
@CoopDeFeet
DeFeet International
Hildebran, NC

Shane Cooper

DeFeet International

Panelist: Passion to Profit

Shane married his cycling sweetheart Hope Dixon Cooper in 1992. The couple have two children: Morgan 13, and Stella, 11. He's an avid cyclist, injured runner, and scared skier. The outdoors is truly his playground. Silent individual sports are Shane's cup of tea. He ran cross country during high school, and rode his bike to his first job. Cycling became his first true love. He enjoys the entire encompassing industry around cycling. For Shane, cycling is art, sport, community, business, physics and self expression.

Shane's family emigrated to the United States from the UK in 1967 because his father's skills as a knitting machine technical engineer were in high demand. Shane grew up in a sock machine. I have worked as a technician, as salesman, a manager of a bike shop.

In His Words

"I stumbled onto a business by incorporating all my lack of talents into one big mess of combined sub-par abilities that somehow made a cohesive bunch of successful products that turned an industry on its head.

DeFeet was started as a way for me to race my bicycle. My passion of the outdoor industry is what leads my way into the business world.

I continue to have fun playing music and incorporate it where I can with my business. I have a punk band called CroMoly that I travel with to bicycle, run industry events and use as entertainment and brand building."

Brief History of DeFeet

• Founded DeFeet in November of 1992
• DeFeet sock worn in the Tour de France 1994
• Winner of the World Championships 1995
• Fire Destroyed DeFeet October 2001
• Advantage West Lone Eagle Award 2003
• Flood at DeFeet 2004
• $250K Theft at DeFeet 2007
• Guest of President GW Bush for the White House Holiday Reception 2008
• Small Business of the Year for BUSINESS North Carolina 2011
• Winner of the Tour De France official Sock 2011
• Presidential E Award 2012 at the White House
• Guest of Senator Kay Hagen for a Senate Business Steering Hearing 2012

Greg Cumberford
@BentCreekGWC
Bent Creek Institute
Asheville, NC

Greg Cumberford

Bent Creek Institute

Moderator: Bootstrap Botanicals

Mr. Cumberford is a co-founder of Bent Creek Institute, Inc. (BCI) based at The North Carolina Arboretum near Asheville, NC, which is home to Bent Creek Germplasm Repository (BCGR), America’s only independent medicinal plant and endophyte germplasm repository. Mr. Cumberford served on BCI’s Board of Directors beginning in 2008 until assuming the Presidency in January 2011.

BCI provides strategic advisory services to the emerging natural products and holistic wellness economy in Western North Carolina. BCI also administers the US Botanical Safety Laboratory (USBSL), a network of university botanical research and analytical testing laboratories in North Carolina. BCI is an associate member of AHPA, CRN, UNPA, ABC, and AHP.

Prior to Bent Creek Institute, Mr. Cumberford worked in senior management at Gaia Herbs, Inc. in Transylvania County. He joined Gaia Herbs as Business Operations Director after it moved to North Carolina in 1997 and then became Vice President – Strategic Initiatives in 2001. The combination of his extensive experience with technical writing, resources management, legal and regulatory affairs, quality management systems/GMP compliance, university research initiatives, botanical safety, and sustainability management helped Gaia Herbs to maintain competitiveness and growth in the US dietary supplements industry. He further served on working regulatory and standards committees of AHPA throughout much of this time. He was a co-founder of the North Carolina Natural Products Association (NCNPA) in 2002. Prior to his work for Gaia Herbs and NCNPA, he owned an independent book publishing company in Southwest Colorado, Kivaki Press, with a thematic focus on environmental sustainability, ecological philosophy, and indigenous wisdom traditions.

Mr. Cumberford is past Chairman of the Board of CIRENAS, a non-profit environmental service learning organization operating on the Southern Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. He received a Bachelor of Science degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in Environmental Earth Sciences from Stanford University in 1990. His avocational interests include natural horsemanship, running, culinary travel, eco-philosophy, and screenwriting.

David Donnell
Asheville Outdoor Center
Asheville, NC

David Donnell

Asheville Outdoor Center

Panelist: Take It Outside: Creating an Outdoor Scene

David and his wife, Melanie, have been patiently crafting a living showcasing the quiet waters along the Asheville section of the French Broad. Dave’s life-long passion for paddling stems from childhood. In the mid-eighties, while working on his outdoor recreation degree at North Michigan University, Donnell came to WNC to work as a raft guide and quickly fell in love with the endless diversity of whitewater streams. He also met Melanie, who had grown up in WNC. After years of canoeing together, they started a paddling business of their own.

In 1992, the Donnells opened Southern Waterways, a licensed professional river outfitter and a member of both the Professional Paddlesports Association and the American Canoe Association. (The business is also a corporate member of RiverLink and the Sierra Club). Combining a passion for paddling with a dedicated professional service, they've carved out a creative niche in the sometimes unforgiving paddle-sport industry.
Donnell admitted that it's had its ups and downs, but said, "We're having fun with it now!" "It's been exciting to see both the recreational usage and the community involvement along the river," he muses. "When we invest in the river with parks, greenways, clean-ups and recreational events, we naturally develop an awareness and appreciation for it."

In 2008, the Donnells changed their company name to Asheville Outdoor Center due to the expanding activities offered, including kayaking, canoeing, rafting, tubing, stand-up paddleboarding, bicycle rentals, gem mining, outdoor festivals and events. 2012 brings the company’s 20-year celebration!

Kara Errickson
@KaraErrickson
CoCoChi
Asheville, NC

Kara Errickson

CoCoChi

Panelist: Bootstrap Botanicals

Founder and CEO of CoCoChi Incorporated, a company focused on the development of personal care products with organic formulas and sustainable packaging. In June 2011, Kara won VERVE magazine’s business plan competition enabling public release of CoCoChi’s first market-ready brand: SkinFare. Since launching sales in August 2011, SkinFare has been picked up by over 150 independent retail locations as well as several national chains, including Whole Foods and Walgreens.

“The incredible circumstances surrounding the birth of our daughter led us to create CoCoChi. My husband and I had been living in Bali, Indonesia for two years, and had already grown accustomed to life in a developing nation.

The Balinese people are extraordinarily welcoming of foreigners, but it was during our pregnancy that they embraced us as family, sharing deep cultural beliefs and ancient traditions... using coconut oil as the dynamic, beating heart of health and well-being. We left Indonesia when our daughter turned one, returning home to the mountains of North Carolina full of entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to share our experience.”

Sara Day Evans
GrittyWorks
Asheville, NC

Sara Day Evans

Prosperity Collective

Panelist: Accelerating the Growth Company Scene

Sara Day’s sustainability work of over 20 years continues to positively impact the people and land of Appalachia.  During her tenure in environmental protection, she was bestowed a US Presidential commendation and award from the Kentucky Commission on Women for her work with women living in Appalachian coalfields. She was an adviser to cabinet secretaries, governors and legislatures on environmental policy and led the establishment of Kentucky's first fund for counties in solid waste management. She managed a 22-person team for ten years, and when ready for a change, she moved to Asheville in 2007.

She quickly became known as connector of people, planet and resources, and developed a multitude of projects to connect impoverished regions to resources, clean energy projects and training for youth. She is in the process of developing and launching WNC's first social benefit accelerator, with a focus on farming, forestry and fiber.

Her degrees are in Geology, Hydrogeology and she also studied Water Law. Sara Day is also an accomplished singer/songwriter and hosts really great house concerts!

Tyler Foos
@Ticklz
New Belgium
Chapel Hill, NC

Tyler Foos

New Belgium

Moderator: Don't Just Sit There. Brew Something!

Tyler Foos, New Belgium Mid Atlantic Field Brander and Beer Ninja. New Belgium employee owner for 8 years. Started my career at New Belgium as a Liquid Center (tasting room) employee in 2004. Spent the past 7 years working in our Liquid Center in various positions while ultimately spending most of that time as the manager. Responsible for creating a highly involved New Belgium experience through brand storytelling and craft beer education for our guests, coworkers, and distributor partners. Highly involved in New Belgium culture, holding the position of our ESOP cultural communication committee chair from 2009-2011. In 2011 took on the responsibility of becoming the Mid-Atlantic and North Carolina Field Brander. During the last year I have spent my time working to build our relationships with likeminded local nonprofit organizations through special event support and in-kind donation support along with helping to curate our branding activities as we continue to grow and live in these new communities.

Matthew Lee
Trackleaders
Chapel Hill, NC

Matthew Lee

TrackLeaders

Moderator: Take It Outside: Creating an Outdoor Scene

Matthew Lee has raced mountain bikes for Cannondale Factory Racing for more than a decade. He is the five-time winner and organizer of the Tour Divide, the longest and most challenging mountain bike race in the world, and is a partner in Trackleaders, the leading small business in web-based event and race tracking services.

Pam Lewis
@PamAsheville
Venture Asheville
Asheville, NC

Pam Lewis

Venture Asheville

Panelist: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

Pam is a relentless champion for entrepreneurs and evangelist for innovative ecosystems in which they are supported and thrive. 

Pam’s background in economic development began in 94’ as part of the start-up team at AdvantageWest, a regional marketing organization covering the 23 western counties of NC.  Initially cutting her teeth in film development and overseeing the organizations financial operations she moved on to take a leadership role in the travel and tourism industry. Before being recruited back to AdvantageWest, she held the toughest job of her career as caregiver to her mom with Alzheimers.

Pam finally found her passion in working with the scrappy and creative sector of our economy known as entrepreneurs. As Senior Vice President of Entrepreneurial Development - her accomplishments included:  The development and implementation of; The Certified Entrepreneurial Community Program, Juicy Ideas National Collegiate Competition, The Advantage Opportunity Loan Fund, Carolina Connect and the recruitment of The Hunger Games to Asheville.

Pam left AdvantageWest in June of 2011 to join the Asheville Buncombe Economic Development Coalition and currently serves as the Director of Entrepreneurship.  She is founder of Venture Asheville, the umbrella brand for the entrepreneurship scene in Asheville and worked with local and national partners to launch Asheville’s entrepreneurial community at SXSW in 2011.

Pam serves on several boards and advisory groups in the area including: Chairman of HandMade In America, The WNC Biotech Advisory Board, AB-Tech Entrepreneurial Foundation, ibiliti/MICA Advisory Board, TEDxAsheville, and The Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute

Craig McAnsh
@MojoCoworking
Mojo Coworking
Asheville, NC

Craig McAnsh

Mojo Coworking

Panelist: Creating a Co-Working Scene on Main St.

Craig is a twenty-five year veteran of the advertising & marketing industries and has received high acclaim for his strategic, non-traditional approach to solving problems and creating opportunities that build business. He has proven experience in forging connections between consumers and brands by generating big ideas that leverage the excitement of entertainment, sports, music and popular culture.

In addition to founding and serving as creative director of Native Marketing (a full service marketing / advertising agency in Asheville, NC), Craig has also been active in connecting creative people across multiple industries to foster higher levels of creativity and innovation through cross pollination.

Based largely on his experiences working with Asheville’s own creative community, McAnsh saw the need for combining creative innovators and entrepreneurs in a single energizing and creative space. This need was the genesis of Mojo Coworking in Asheville. Mojo offers a unique coworking environment that plugs you in to the energy, collaboration, inspiration and ideas you can use to be your best - socially, creatively,
entrepreneurially, consciously, joyfully.

After the first year of operation, it has become clear that the demand for coworking in Asheville is outpacing the available Mojo space. A new, larger Mojo Coworking space is currently under construction in downtown Asheville with a tentative opening date of September 1st.

Jess McCuan
@JessDujour
Asheville Scene
Asheville, NC

Jess McCuan

Asheville Scene

Moderator: Don't Just Sit There. Brew Something!

Jess McCuan is the editor of Asheville Scene, a new weekly publication of the Asheville Citizen-Times. For the past decade, her writing about entrepreneurs and trends has appeared in Inc., Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. In 2008, she helped launch the Asheville women’s magazine VERVE, where she was editor until earlier this year.

Derrick Minor
@DerrickMinor
Downtown Raleigh Alliance
Raleigh, NC

Derrick Minor

Downtown Raleigh Alliance

Panelist: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

Derrick Minor is the Director of Downtown Development for the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. Derrick is responsible for recruiting and retaining entrepreneurs and small businesses in downtown Raleigh, as well as promoting the downtown market as a desirable location for corporate, regional, and divisional level headquarter companies. Derrick has over 8 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and small businesses in the areas of business development, economic development, finance, operations, and commercial real estate. Derrick also serves on the steering committee for Innovate Raleigh – a public private partnership between NC State University, the City of Raleigh, Wake County Economic Development, Raleigh Economic Development, Downtown Raleigh Alliance, and the private sector. Innovate Raleigh exists to catalyze innovation efforts in Raleigh and throughout the region.

Joni Pavlik
unWINEd
Moncure, NC

Joni Pavlik

unWined

Panelist: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

Joni Ponsaa Pavlik is the owner and operator of unWINEd, a central North Carolina wine store with North Carolina wines from 30 wineries and products such as cheese, crackers, salami/pepperoni and chocolates. All products are from NC.  Joni has been in Chatham County, NC for 22 years.  She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to an entrepreneurial father and her parents owned and operated Ponsaa's Mid-City Restaurant for 27 years.  Joni took the path of education for the past 30 years in various capacities; presently, dean of business and media technologies and public services for Central Carolina Community College.  She is a graduate of the NC REAL course that helped with her business plan for unWINEd, LLC.  Beliefs: buy local, shop local, build community, be sustainable.

 

Spott Philpott
Merge Records
Durham, NC

Spott Philpott

Merge Records

Panelist: Scene and Heard: The Business of Music

Spott Philpott is the Label Manager and was the second employee at Merge Records, which was started in 1989 by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same year they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill. Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when it purchased a building in historic Downtown Durham, NC. Spott told a crowd recently that “finding people who are dedicated fans of a label is the future” if independent labels are to succeed, which puts them in roughly the same boat as artists.

 

Gar Ragland
@Gar_Ragland
NewSong Music

Gar Ragland

NewSong Music

Panelist: Scene and Heard: The Business of Music

Gar Ragland is a music producer and the director and co-founder of NewSong Music, an independent music company that focuses on artist development through its record label, management services, concert series (including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York and the Rhodes Center for the Arts in Winston-Salem), and the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, an annual performance and songwriting competition produced with NPR’s Mountain Stage radio show.

 

Matthew Ramsden
@MatthewRamsden
Berst
Durham, NC

Matthew Ramsden

Berst

Panelist: Accelerating the Growth Company Scene

Matthew (@matthewramsden) is the co-founder of Berst (@berst).

Berst is a mobile app that makes it easy to instantly connect wherever you are with the people and places around you to share the experience.

Matthew's company completed an accelerator program, Triangle Startup Factory, during Spring of 2012.

Mike Rangel
Asheville Brewing Company
Asheville, NC

Mike Rangel

Asheville Brewing Company, Inc

Panelist: Don't Just Sit There. Brew Something!

Mike is the President of Asheville Brewing Company. The Sullivan University graduate moved to Asheville in 1995 to open up the business.

Asheville Brewing Company has been named National Pizzaria of the Month, Top 100 Restaurants in the Nation and has been featured in Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, Southern Living and many many others

Laralyn RiverWind
Native Touch, LLC
Andrews, NC

Laralyn RiverWind

Native Touch, LLC

Panelist: Bootstrap Botanicals

Laralyn RiverWind is the CEO/Co-founder/Co-owner of Native Touch, LLC, manufacturers of all natural skin care products.  She formulates all of the company’s products and has been formulating herbal personal care since 2001.  Her love of plant medicine was inherited from her father who was her first teacher.  She has bloodlines from the Creek, Cherokee, Irish and Scottish tribes and embraces her cultural heritages as a way of life. 

Laralyn RiverWind is the Emissary for the Taino Turabo Aymaco Tribe and the wife of the Chief-Select of the Jaguar Clan of the Taino Turabo Aymaco Tribe.  She is the subject of a biographical chapter in the book A Cup of Cappuccino for the Entrepreneur’s Spirit (Native American Women Entrepreneurs Edition) by Jeretta Nord, winner of the Best of 2010 Small Business Book Awards.  Laralyn sits on the Board of Directors of North Carolina Natural Products Association and has spoken on multiple entrepreneurial panels including the 2012 GREAT Leadership Retreat Panel where she represented a growth company.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Valdosta State University where she graduated summa cum laude and is currently a doctoral student of naturopathy through Trinity School of Natural Health.

Laralyn is reputed to be a musician.  She plays the Native American flute and hand drum and tinkers at the Celtic harp.  She and her husband co-founded the band The Blessed Blend in which they are lead vocalists.  She produced all three of their albums.  She is a Native American Music Award recipient. Their most recent release “Tribal Thunder,” won Best Rock Recording of 2011. 

Laralyn is a mother of two who describes her most notable accomplishment to be rearing a thrill seeker and an allergic child into adulthood. She is an ordained minister and resides in Marble, Cherokee County, NC.

Dan Roselli
@DanielRoselli
Packard Place
Charlotte, NC

Dan Roselli

Packard Place

Panelist: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

Dan and his business partner and wife, Sara Garcés, are co-founders of Packard Place, which focuses it's core principles on "Innovation. Entrepreneurship. Community."  Packard Place is devoted to entrepreneurial companies and opened in 2011 as a hub for like-minded entrepreneurs to share skills and business opportunities in Charlotte. Dan is also co-owner of RED F Marketing, a full service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients.  Dan also founded Customer Stream in 2006, a marketing technology company that focuses on services for the 10,000 community banks in the country. Both RED F and Customer Stream have been recognized on the Charlotte Business Journal's "Fast 50" list of growing companies in Charlotte multiple times. In 2010, Dan founded TargetPoint, another marketing company focusing on enabling marketing technology platforms. Dan has a finance degree from Michigan State University and a master's degree in marketing from the University of Minnesota. Dan has been honored by several awards including the Top 50 Entrepreneurs Award, Movers and Shakers, Forty Under 40, Catalyst Entrepreneurs and RED F has been named seven times on the Inc. 500/5000 List.  Most recently Dan was named by Sustain Charlotte as the "Overall Community Leader" in the awards' first year.

 

Wendell Roth
Waterra
Greensboro, NC

Wendell Roth

Waterra

Panelist: David Making a Scene in a Goliath Industry

Wendell Roth has his “Ah-Ha” moment about five years ago when he walked into a convenience store to get a drink and saw a wall of refrigerators filled with plastic bottled beverages. Four years later he and his wife, Cindy, launched Waterra in Greensboro: “To empower individuals to consume healthy customizable beverages in the most sustainable way possible.” Waterra dispensers are in schools, wellness businesses, fitness clubs and bookstores across North Carolina. Wendell enjoys educating people to change their habits for the good of themselves and the planet.

Ray Russell
RaysWeather.com
Boone, NC

Ray Russell

RaysWeather.com

Panelist: Passion to Profit

Ray Russell, founder of RaysWeather.Com is a computer science professor at Appalachian State University and has lived in Boone since 1991. Ray previously taught at Virginia Commonwealth University and Freed-Hardeman University. He earned his PhD in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. Ray has been the principle investigator for several grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA. Of late, his work in computer science has been directed toward meteorological applications in computer science and presented a paper at the 2006 American Meteorological Society National Convention. In addition to computing and weather, Ray has a passion for running. Ray ran the Boston Marathon in 2010 and 2011 Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon in 2011. 

Reading RaysWeather.Com weather forecasts has become a daily ritual for many Northwest NC residents. The most reliable forecast along with about 70 reporting weather stations and other local information has made RaysWeather.Com one of if not the most widely read media outlet in Northwest NC. RaysWeather.Com delivers about 4.5 million web pages per month to an estimated 250,000 people. 

RaysWeather.Com is a larger operation than might initially meet the eye—five forecasters, offices in Boone and Asheville, an office manager, and three salespersons. The forecasting crew is the best group ever assembled to forecast the weather in Northwest NC—combined, they have about 100 years of professional forecasting experience. A robust system of data ingestion, forecast production, advertising management, and web page delivery “lies behind the scenes”, approaching half a million lines of computer code. Even as our business continues to grow rapidly, the goals of RaysWeather.Com have remained the same:

• Provide accurate local weather information
• Provide an “honest” forecast
• Be positive
• Provide an outlet for community service projects and community events
• Capture the essence of Northwest North Carolina (Weather, Mountains, People, Institutions, etc.)

 

Leslie Scott
N.C. Rural Center
Raleigh, NC

Leslie Scott

N.C. Rural Center

Moderator: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

Ms. Leslie Scott has directed the Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship at the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center since 2004. The institute operates the Growing America Through Entrepreneurship (GATE) program in North Carolina for dislocated workers starting rural businesses as well as New Generation Ventures for rural entrepreneurs ages 18 to 30. Leslie knows and supports place-based rural entrepreneurship initiatives statewide. She led a project team that got the N.C. Entrepreneurship Summit started in North Carolina in 2006 and chaired the program committee in 2011 and 2012. 

Leslie is a graduate of Colgate University and of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Masters in Public Administration program. Before joining the Rural Center she was a researcher and government contractor at RTI and UNC. Leslie serves on the boards of the N.C. Indian Economic Development Initiative, the national Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, and the Kerr-Tar Regional Economic Development Commission.

 

John-Paul Smith
Bull City Forward
Durham, NC

John-Paul Smith

Bull City Forward

Moderator: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

John-Paul Smith was born in Winston-Salem, raised in Maryland, groomed in Charlotte and inspired at Elon University (2009, B.A. in History).  He learned about his blessings in “La Tierra de la Primavera Eterna” and about human brokenness on a campaign trail in South Carolina.  His goal is to help cultivate an environment in which people recognize their value and that in others. 

For the past two years he worked as Bull City Forward’s Replication and Scaling Manager, working within Durham and across communities to nurture entrepreneurial ecosystems for social innovators and entrepreneurs.  In his role, he helped launch Queen City Forward in Charlotte, NC, hiring its Executive Director and assisting in the development of QCF’s initial programming and membership base.  He previously served on the NC Institute for Emerging Issues 2012 Co-Working Task Force.  He currently  contributes to the North Carolina Fourth Sector Cluster Initiative, serves on the Planning Committee for the North Carolina Entrepreneurship Summit, and is developing a strategy to help twentysomethings adapt and persist as they transition from school and strive to lead their lives, their communities, and our world.

Drew Stanley
App Terrain Park
Blowing Rock, NC

Drew Stanley

App Terrain Park

Panelist: Take It Outside: Creating an Outdoor Scene

Drew Stanley is the founder & director of App Terrain Park, which provides progressive freestyle skiing & snowboarding terrain at Appalachian Ski Mtn, located in Blowing Rock, NC. A native of the WNC High Country, his passion has always been skiing, and as soon as the freestyle movement began, Drew persuaded Appalachian Ski Mtn. management to dedicate a slope for use as a Terrain Park, which he built and maintained on a volunteer basis while in school.

After graduating from Appalachian State University in 2006 with a degree in Business Management, he assumed a newly-created position full-time year round at Appalachian Ski Mtn., serving as both the Terrain Park Director and Marketing Director for the Ski Resort.

From day one, App Terrain Park has had on simple idea in mind – build the best possible freestyle terrain for skiers and snowboarders. What began as a volunteer effort has now evolved into a network of 3 terrain parks, highlighted with over 60 rails, boxes, jibs, and jumps. ATP’s dedicated crew of builders work around the clock, changing park setups, grooming take-offs & landings, fabricating new features, hosting unique events, and keeping all aspects of the park in top shape.

 

John Taylor
Mercury Data Systems
Asheville, NC

John Taylor

Mercury Data Systems

Panelist: Creating Great Scenes for Entrepreneurs Across North Carolina

John Taylor, President, is senior-level executive and principal with Mercury Data Systems since its founding in 1994. Mr. Taylor has over 30 years of technical development and project management experience.

Since 2003, Mr. Taylor has managed Personnel Locator Research and Development projects at Mercury including development of systems for DOD, DHS and DOJ, as well as several large defense contractors. Currently, Mr. Taylor is working with several DOD  agencies on R&D programs that will begin transition to commercialization in 2013.

Mr. Taylor is also leading another US DOT funded initiative - to develop novel smart apps to increase public transit usage and decrease auto usage and traffic congestion. Mr. Taylor extensively pursues federal funding for research and development and commercialization of new technologies and works with many universities to leverage Mercury's technology capabilities. 

Benjamin Teague
@AvlEconDev
Economic Development Coalition & Asheville Area
Chamber of Commerce
Asheville, NC

Benjamin Teague

Economic Development Coalition
& Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce

Moderator: David Making a Scene in a Goliath Industry

Ben earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Mississippi College and his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi serving as a John N Palmer fellow and the MBA association president. Ben furthered his professional education by completing the Economic Development Institute administered by the University of Oklahoma and has earned the designation of Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP).

Ben started his career as a financial analyst with the Mississippi Technology Alliance (MTA) and quickly moved to be a project manager for a business line of MTA, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi. After working at MTA Ben moved to Hattiesburg to serve as Vice President of Economic Development for The Area Development Partnership (ADP), a regional economic development entity.  

While in Mississippi Ben was selected for Mississippi Economic Council’s Leadership Mississippi class of 2008-2009 and for The Mississippi Business Journal Top 40 under 40 for 2008.

Since landing in Asheville, NC in 2009 Ben has lead his team to announce nearly $700,000,000 in capital investment and over 2,500 jobs.

Ben has been honored to be a keynote speaker for groups such as the Smithsonian Institute and the International Economic Development Council and has been featured in several media sources including Fast Company, Site Selection Magazine, Trade and Industry Magazine, Expansion Solutions Magazine and several local media outlets.

Professionally Ben is a member of International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and serves on the Public Policy Advisory Committee. He also is a member of Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC), the North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA) and Carolina West.  

Throughout Ben’s career he has been extremely active in the community serving as a board member for Junior Achievement, Ability Works, Industries for the Blind, Riverfront Redevelopment Commission and the Downtown Commission.

While not at work Ben enjoys spending time with his wife Haley and his two boys Campbell and Coleman.

Troy Tolle
@ttolle
DigitalChalk
Asheville, NC

Troy Tolle

DigitalChalk

Moderator: Accelerating the Growth Company Scene

Troy is a leading visionary and champion of cloud computing, pushing the envelope for what can be done in education today and building for the future.  For more than a decade, after leaving academia, Troy has been engaging the Fortune 500 and the US Government in emerging software technologies that have helped improve process and functionality without compromising usability. His passion for excellence in education and pushing the limits of software inspired Troy to start Infinity Learning Solutions and build its flagship product DigitalChalk.  As Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of DigitalChalk he is the author of multiple patent applications in the arena of synchronized multimedia and video authoring utilizing cloud technology.  His desire to ignite a passion for education and entrepreneurship in others has led him to partner with Google and numerous universities to provide scholarship initiatives in those areas.  Troy current sits on the Board of Directors for ERC Broadband, a non-profit promoting efficient and reliable network infrastructure, and is Vice Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board at NC State University for the Computer Science department.  He also serves on the Advisory Cabinet for United States Congressman Heath Shuler and is the Chairman of the Board for the AB Tech Entrepreneurial Development Foundation. As a thought leader in cloud technology, he has been called on numerous times by Amazon’s cloud technology team for feedback on emerging technologies.  Troy travels extensively speaking in both public and private gatherings on various topics including education, cloud computing and leadership.

Jessica Tomasin
@EchoMountainRec
Echo Mountain
Recording Studios
Asheville, NC

Jessica Tomasin

Echo Mountain Recording Studios

Moderator: Scene and Heard: The Business of Music

Jessica Tomasin had her first studio experience 17 years ago, singing back up vocals on a hip hop track in Detroit. She worked for GM and Saturn car company before moving to Asheville. Since Echo Mountain Recording Studio opened its doors in 2006, she has been the studio manager and also oversaw their label, Echo Mountain Records. In 2010, she began managing locally-based musician Aaron Woody Wood. Jessica is the proud owner of the studio dog, Femi, the lovable and lazy Rhodesian Ridgeback that takes over all of the furniture.

Bryan Toney
@BryanToney
UNCG Entrepreneurship Center
Greensboro, NC

Bryan Toney

North Carolina Entrepreneurship Center

Moderator: Passion to Profit

Bryan Toney is Director of the North Carolina Entrepreneurship Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  Prior to moving to Greensboro in 2011, he founded the Center for Entrepreneurship at Appalachian State University where he led the development of many new academic, co-curricular, outreach and international activities.  He has also served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Georgia Tech and was the founder and CEO of Information Management Inc. in Atlanta.  He holds a M.S. in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Tennessee. 

Blair Walton
Pipeline Event Management
Wilmington, NC

Blair Walton

Pipeline Event Management

Panelist: Scene and Heard: The Business of Music

Blair Walton was born and raised in Richmond, VA, where his love for music grew and followed him to William & Mary, then to Wilmington, NC. An avid music listener and player, Blair founded Pipeline Event Management in 2010 with his friend Chris Lee as a way to become more involved with the music scene and bring more great music to town. Pipeline is now the premier event specialist company in Wilmington. Pipeline coordinates and manages musical events and provides security, hospitality, logistical support and oversight specific to each venue.

Oscar Wong
Highland Brewing Company
Asheville, NC

Oscar Wong

Highland Brewing Company, Inc

Panelist: Don't Just Sit There. Brew Something!

Oscar founded Highland Brewing Company in 1994 after selling his nuclear waste company. The transition from engineering to brewing was facilitated by his background as a licensed professional engineer, business owner, and beer aficionado.

Highland is the first legal brewery in Western North Carolina since Prohibition. Over the 17 years of operation Highland has grown to be the largest brewery in North Carolina, set the stage for the startup of nine other breweries and helped garner the title of Beer City USA for Asheville three years in a row.

Oscar also received the North Carolina Small Business Person of the Year 2012 award by SBA. Other awards are local to the City of Asheville.