Drinking Horn Meadery receives Shoemaker Award.
Evan and Kelly Anderson, founders of startup Drinking Horn Meadery, received the 2023 Shoemaker Award at Moonshot’s annual entrepreneurial awards banquet. The 3rd Annual Shoemaker Awards and 4th Annual AZ Pioneer Pitch Tour Finals shared the stage at Little America Hotel on the evening of July 28 in Flagstaff, both produced by Moonshot, Arizona’s statewide rural entrepreneurial development program.
The Shoemaker Award was created to honor entrepreneurs who have graduated from the Moonshot program, specifically the NACET campus, and established businesses in the greater Flagstaff area that hire local employees. Past Shoemaker recipients include Dan Kaspryzk, founder of POBA Medical and Robert Kellar, Ph.D., founder of Axolotl Biologix.
“This is the first time a beverage manufacturer has won the Shoemaker Award, which speaks to the variety of start-ups Moonshot’s program serves,” said Hathcock.
In their acceptance speech, Evan and Kelly Anderson said that not only did the Moonshot entrepreneur classes feed into their business success but also the network of other startup founder peers they have come to know. In the introductory video presentation, Anderson said, “There’s always a component of luck in any business being successful. We found that the harder we work, the better we treat our people, the luckier we get. I love our product. I love the ingredients that go into it. I love all of our staff. Our staff really enjoy it. Our staff are even buying houses right now, even in these crazy times. So, it makes you feel good that we are actually providing jobs that people can actually live on.”
The award is named in honor of Flagstaff’s own Carolyn Shoemaker. Shoemaker was a world-renowned astronomer who discovered or co-discovered 377 asteroids and 32 comets, including the co-discovery of the Shoemaker-Levy 9, which broke apart and crashed into Jupiter in 1994.
Moonshot’s Mission Control Award, given to a volunteer who helps to serve Moonshot’s non-profit mission and embodies the energy and passion for entrepreneurialism, went to attorney and Moonshot Board member David Johns. Johns was brought to the stage with an introduction by Whitney Cunningham of Aspey Watkins and Diesel, PLLC, (AWD LAW). Johns currently serves as both in-house intellectual property law counsel to W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., where he leads its global trademark team, and as counsel to the Northern Arizona law firm AWD LAW, where he focuses on the business and intellectual property law needs of startup and growing businesses.
Johns has served for many years on the Moonshot Board of Directors, twice acting as secretary. He also has developed and provided training programs on ways that businesses’ concepts can be legally protected. In addition, he has served as an advisor and mentor for new business ventures and participated as a volunteer coach and judge for Moonshot’s AZ Pioneer Pitch Events throughout Arizona.
In the 4th Annual AZ Pioneer Pitch Tour Finals, Tim Elinski, founder of Pin Drop Travel Trailers, took home the grand prize of $10,000 after his five-minute business pitch presentation. Pin Drop Travel Trailers is the manufacturer of a fully self-contained, solar powered micro camper.
“We are invested in rural. We selected Miami, Arizona as the headquarters for Pin Drop. One hundred years ago, Miami was a huge economic driver for the state of Arizona,” said Elinski. “While it has lagged behind in the last couple of generations, we see huge potential in the town, the Copper Corridor and the region.”
Dennis Dueker of Dueker Ranch, an equine therapy non-profit organization, received $5,000 and the “Crowd Favorite” pitch award.
The ceremony kicked off with a networking reception sponsored by APS. “APS is a longtime partner and proud champion of Moonshot at NACET,” said Mackenzie Fitzgerald, an economic development representative for the utility and Moonshot Board member. “We at APS believe in small businesses and entrepreneurs. Each year, we enthusiastically support the essential Moonshot programs like the statewide Pioneer Pitch Tour. These workshops in rural areas inject energy, education and resources into local communities to grow and expand their job opportunities and economies.”
This year’s Pioneer Pitch Tour included 10 stops in Cottonwood, Flagstaff, Winslow, Sierra Vista, Safford, Globe, Payson, Tucson, Prescott and Yuma. Regional Pioneer Pitch Tour winners from across the state pitched their start-ups during the course of the banquet dinner for the chance to win the grand prize of $10,000 or the “Crowd Favorite” award of $5,000, determined by the audience.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona was the title sponsor of the 2022-23 tour. The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), Growth Partners AZ and Community Investment Corporation (CIC) all joined as co-sponsors.
Additional Moonshot Awards ceremony sponsors included the City of Flagstaff, PNC Bank, AWD LAW, W. L. Gore & Associates, Genterra Enterprises, Lowell Observatory, SBDC of Arizona, Coconino County Board of Supervisors, Arizona @ Work, Dueker Ranch, David Johns and Jill Harrison Family, Sunwest Bank, Jen Nordstrom Accounting, SBDC Cochise College and Drinking Horn Meadery. FBN
Photo courtesy of Morgan Boatman: Drinking Horn Meadery founders Evan and Kelly Anderson received the 2023 Shoemaker Award at Moonshot’s annual entrepreneurial awards banquet. They credit their success to Moonshot’s entrepreneur classes and the network of support they’ve received through the non-profit organization.
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