“Springtime's gentle breeze Nature wakes from winter freeze Joyful birds take flight.
Golden sunshine beamsMelt the snow, awaken streams Landscapes bathe in light.”
- Agustín
to the team that made the magazine happen!
Shaun Wilson: Editor/Designer/Photographer
Maria Stasko: Writer/Illustrator
Agustín Urioste:
Designer/Creative
The 2023 Spring Semester was a huge growing experience for the Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab. In total, our entrepreneurs brought in over $231,000 this past school year in funding for their businesses.
In March, the LaunchLab hosted the March Idea Challenge: Student Organizations– a pitch competition that gives student organizations the opportunity to win funding. The judges’ panel consisted of five business professionals from the
West Virginia area: Tara St. Clair, Dr. T. Anne Hawkins, Carrie Showalter, Sabrina M. Cave, and G. Corey Farris.
There were eight student organizations that participated in the March Idea Challenge: WVU Entrepreneurship Club, Sigma Phi Delta Engineering - Fraternity Beta Xi chapter, Outdoor Adventure Club, Asian Association, WVU Tech Entrepreneurship Club, Collegiate Gaming Club, Climbing Club, and Self Love Club.
Four of the eight student organizations were awarded with funding. WVU Tech Entrepreneurship Club won $2000 in funding to create a cultural lounge. WVU’s Asian Association was granted $1230 in order to produce their events next school year. The WVU Outdoor Adventure Club won $900 for new banners to be used for advertising. The WVU Climbing Club was given $870 to purchase new climbing equipment. The popular vote of $250 was awarded to the WVU Entrepreneurship Club.
From April 17th to the 21st of this year, the state of West Virginia hosted the Bridging Innovation week. During this week, entrepreneurs from the entire state are granted the opportunity to
win funding, connect with other entrepreneurs, and learn about the spirit of entrepreneurship. There were many pitch competitions that occured over the week of Bridging Innovation.
On April 18th, during Bridging Innovation Week, the Arts Entrepreneurship and Veterans Entrepreneurship Pitches were held. The LaunchLab had two clients that were prized with funding at the Arts Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition. Adam Payne’s YNST Magazine won $3000 in funding; and Joana Tsuhulares, Hamlet: The Undiscovered Country won $2000 in funding. Additionally, the LaunchLab had five clients that won funding at the Veterans Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition. Dustin Ward’s Light Sleeper won $7000 in funding, Chris Grimes’ Gardening won $7000 in funding, Jamie Summerlin’s PC dev app won $7000 in funding, Bette Angle’s Teachers in Catering won $4500 in funding, and Steve Ellison, Chestnuts won $4500 in funding.
On April 19th– during the Bridging Innovation two business competitions were held: The Innovation & Business Model Competition (Marshall University) and the WV Business Finals Pitch Competition were held. The LaunchLab had two clients win funding at the Innovation and Business Model Competition. Soren Kowalski’s FLWG took second
place, winning $2000; and Kieron Leonard’s BedTech won first place, winning $3000. The LaunchLab had seven teams win funding from the Business Plan Competition. BRITE won $40,000 in funding. Eva Toor’s The Stable Boy won $35,000 in funding. Dustin Ward’s The Lite Sleeper won $25,000 in funding. Nikki Forester’s Highland Outdoors won $19,000 in funding. Bobby Noble’s Noble Growing System won $16,000 in funding. Nate Arndt’s Nate’s Handcrafted Nets won $15,000 in funding. And Adam Payne’s YNST won $8000 in funding.
We are extremely proud of all of our clients that participated and won funding
during Bridging Innovation Week. The LaunchLab cannot wait to see everyone grow their businesses even more!
The April Arts Festival was the last pitch competition of the year that was hosted by the LaunchLab. This pitch competition was open to all students, and staff who wanted to win funding for their art. The judges’ panel consisted of five well known artists in the West Virginia area: Elizabeth Yeager, JennaGreen, Liz Pavlovic, Cody Kerns, and Adam James Payne.
There were five artists who participated in the April Arts Pitch Competition: Justin Borak, Koltin Davis, Zachary Morphew, Christian Rhen, and Aiden Rimmer. All five of the artists were awarded funding for their art.
Christian Rhen was awarded with $1750 in funding for his musical production collaboration. Justin Borak was awarded $1500 in funding for his podcast. Zachary Morphew was awarded $850 in funding for his novel. Aiden Rimmer was awarded $500 for art materials. And Koltin Davis was awarded $400 in funding for his short story.
Dr. Carrie White is the Executive Director of the WVU LaunchLab Network. She is also a Teaching Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Chambers College of Business and Economics. Carrie helps provide resources and networking support for students engaged in idea generation and development through the commercialization process. She also develops and coordinates the programming and events hosted by the Morris L. Hayhurst Launchlab.
LL: What is one new leaf that the LaunchLab has sprouted this semester?
C: Probably the Stable Boy with Eva Toor. Although she’s been here as a client for two years, she has really made a ton of progress. Her prototype for the Stable Boy, recently won funding. I think the funding is going to propel her forward really fast.
LL: In what way has this new season of spring inspired the LaunchLab to grow, in your opinion.
C: So we are in the middle of competition season, which is always in the Spring. This is great for growth opportunities, because this is when a lot of funding comes along for our clients. It helps us to realize the first half, their Winter phase, is learning how to pitch. Then really, Spring growth is now I have money, I have to run my business now. So it’s a big area for growth.
LL: Have you had any challenges sowing the seeds of progress in your work with the LaunchLab and its affiliated events or partners?
C: When we first opened the LaunchLab in 2014, it was really slow growing, because nobody knew we were here. So it
took a while, and then we had a lot of growth in a few years. Then things kind of steadied off, and now we’re in the middle of another growth season. So I think you have those ebbs and flows. Especially since we don’t have a lot of consistency, because our students who work here tend to graduate. That’s why we always tell everyone who works here, you have to replace yourself. It keeps that consistency as close as we can to make sure that we don’t have a lot of stops and starts.
LL: In what way has the LaunchLab been able to come out of its shell this semester?
C: Well moving into the Research Corporation I think has opened up a lot of opportunities for us. We can now work with not just students, but we can work with community members, researchers, faculty, and veterans. Now with our veterans grants we have a lot of funding opportunities under the Research Corporation. That has really allowed us to open up our services to pretty much anybody and everybody who wants to grow their idea and commercialize.
LL: Looking back at all your bright moments this semester, are there any that stand out as having been a result of the
C: Every single thing that we do is with the help of others. Everybody in the LaunchLab works together, there’s not one person in here that can do all of this by themselves. So the team and the LaunchLab is critical for the success of our clients. But also we have this ecosystem outside of the WVU network and we have the statewide entrepreneurship community. Everything that happens around entrepreneurship is a result of having to rely on other people and working together.
Eva Toor has been riding horses almost her entire life. She took her frustration with saddle stands to the LaunchLab and created The Stable Boy. After winning $35,000 at the Bridging Innovation Conference, she is set to improve the lives of horse riders everywhere.
LL :What is one way that you have professionally sprouted a new leaf this semester?
E: This was the first semester that I was really able to start entering pitch competitions. My business was finally at the stage where I could do that. I entered as many as I was eligible for, and they each lent themselves to the other. They all forced me to take fairly large steps in one way or the other. Whether that was thinking about the future of my business in ways that I hadn’t before, coming up with financial projections, or writing a business plan. So I think just being eligible for the business competitions was kind of a new leaf. They pushed me further than I thought they would have just by entering.
LL: Do you think you’re going to keep entering the competitions?
E: Absolutely. As many as I can until I graduate.
LL: How has the new season of spring inspired you to grow,separate from entering the pitch competitions?
E: I was more involved this Spring than I had been previously with the LaunchLab and other organizations. Being more
involved has allowed me to see everyone else around me, and kind of what is and what can be. That’s pushed me to want to achieve more and keep growing my business. Now that we’re going into Summer, this is the time when a lot of students are getting Summer internships and everything. I started kind of thinking about how I might spend my Summer, and realized that the best and most enjoyable way to spend my Summer is just to continue growing my business.
LL: Do you know what you’re going to do over the Summer to try to grow your business?
Zachary Morphew recently became a client of the LaunchLab. He participated in the April Arts Festival Pitch Competition, and won funding for his innovation. Zachary is a Junior studying painting. He is a talented artist who is making big growth for himself and his unique style and ideas.
LL: What is one way that you have professionally sprouted a new leaf this semester?
Z: So over the course of the semester, I’ve been much more interested in making my work printable. Graphic design has really helped with that. I’ve just kind of fallen in love with the idea of making something that was on a computer now physical. That inspired me to start developing a very long screenplay called “American Budapest” or “Ouse, Virginia.” It is about a photographer and his relationship with obsessive compulsive disorder. I’ve been making work about that in
a fake artistic movement style I call deconstructivism, which is inspired by Cubism and the deconstructivist movement in architecture. But it doesn’t actually exist. I’m just kind of experimenting with that.
LL: So potentially starting a movement?
Z: Yeah, I’m starting a fake one. I don’t expect anybody else to go with it but that’s what I’ve been doing professionally. Non professionally, I’ve been working on a comic called “So Southwest to the Cat.” Yeah and it’s about a cat getting up to bullshit.
LL:How has this new season of Spring inspired you?
Z: The leaves coming back has really made me quite happy. My work has become significantly more focused on nature and just the beauty of existence. I think that’s not as evident in the work I’m doing through my paintings. In my sketchbooks, I’ve been really focusing more on nature and the beauty of humanity.
LL: Have you had any challenges sowing the seeds of progress in your ventures? Have you had to face any barriers with your work?
Z: The main problem I have that I’ve been really working on
is keeping consistent with a project. I’ve never really been too good at keeping to one idea, my mind moves around a lot. What I’ve done at the LaunchLab and also for my painting class, has really helped me focus on one particular thing.
LL: Looking back at all your bright moments this semester, are there any that stand out as having been a result of the help of others?
Z: Yeah, LaunchLab is an amazing innovation center. I’m definitely gonna recommend that to a lot of my friends. I’ve been working a lot with one of my good friends, Grace Campbell. She’s a musician here in Morgantown. She’s pretty incredible. I’m helping her because I’m making art for her, but we really just play off each other really nicely. She’s super clear with what she wants, and she’s gonna be really big someday. So it’s really cool to work with her. That’s a relationship I’m excited to foster over
the next like, you know, potentially 10 years. You can’t be successful on social media without other people, because it’s just by the very nature of what it is. So I wouldn’t be anywhere I am today, I wouldn’t have the confidence I have today If it weren’t for people on Tik Tok and Instagram, constantly reassuring me that the stuff I’m making is worth something. I’ve kind of made a brand out of really crappy drawing videos of dogs and stuff like that. And just the reception from that has been extremely encouraging and has helped me blossom as a creative person.
LL: Is there anything you want people to know about that you’re working on?
Z: Grace Campbell’s album “Bloom” will be coming out in a few months, I’m making the art for that; album art and the visuals for it, basically. Aside from a few people who are taking photographs, I’m really excited for everybody to hear the new album. And I recom-
mend that you look at it.
LL: In what way have you not been able to come out of your shell this spring?
Can you think of any specific moment that you did?
Z: If anything, I’ve come more out of my shell and become less anxious. I’ve taken up puppetry, and I’ve taken more performances. Last week, I did two public speaking events. One was a puppet show, which I’ve been really anxious for and the other one was actually the reason I got this nervous cold, speaking publicly at the LaunchLab event. I’ve just been improving all around. I’m sure next semester, I’ll be filled with stuff, but right now I’m doing good.
