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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 110 ~ 28 of 48
on Route 33.
“He took it up there to let people enjoy it,” Cyrus said. “I couldn’t have thought of anything better than
to see it go up there.”
Unlike most giant pumpkin growers, Cyrus’ competitive edge is not what drives him to grow a bigger
and better pumpkin each year.
His grandkids, especially Max, are amazed by the “larger than life” gourds.
“The leaves were taller than them. Barefoot and walking through there, they said, ‘Pap, it’s a rainforest,”
Cyrus laughed. “They get a big kick out of that, which is why I do it.”
Max claimed one of the pumpkins out of the patch this year. His weighed in at 1,064 pounds and won
third place at the Pumpkin Festival.
“He was tickled,” Cyrus grinned.
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Information from: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, http://wvgazettemail.com.
High school quartet develops business plan By JOHN BAILEY, Hickory Daily Record
HICKORY, N.C. (AP) — Except for Sir Isaac Newton, great ideas don’t normally just hit you on the head.
For most, it takes countless hours of brainstorming, research and work, and for those who don’t give up, the reward is usually an idea worthy of sharing with the world.
In the case of the Challenger Early College High School team of Valerie Stiltner, Cedric Clyburn, Karlina Ho and Chanler Watts, the idea earned them a nalist spot in this year’s Catawba County Chamber of Commerce’s Edison Project.
Their idea is called FarmToHome, and the plan is to bring produce from local farmers in the Catawba County area and deliver it straight to local customer’s homes. It’s been as much of a learning opportunity as a business opportunity for the students.
“The real world experience this project has given us is unbelievable, and being at Challenger Early Col- lege and having great mentors has really allowed us to take our education to another level,” the group’s CEO Cedric Clyburn said.
The annual Edison Project Entrepreneurial Competition is a celebration and recognition of the entrepre- neurial spirit of the Greater Hickory Metro, according to catawbachamber.org/Edison-project.
Each of this year’s nalists will pitch their idea to a nancial panel of bankers, venture capitalists and angel investors from across the state and will submit their business plan to be reviewed and judged.
On Nov. 13, the competition will conclude with a nal pitch to an audience of community members at Market on Main in Hickory (5:30-7:30 p.m.), which kicks off Global Entrepreneurship Week presented by Lenoir-Rhyne University in November.
The nalists compete for an economic incentive in the amount of $10,000 for rst place, $5,000 for second place, and $3,000 for third place.
This is the second year Challenger Early College High School at Catawba Valley Community College has had a team make it as a nalist in the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce’s Edison Project.
“As a school, we are already dedicated to all our students having access to soft skills and business skills, but they are just a small subset of today’s teaching,” Challenger Principal Heather Ben eld said. “We’re trying to get students ready to go out and be good employees. This is taking those who are interested to the next level of employability.”
The principal has seen students, who were afraid to get up and talk in front of a class, go on to become a SkillsUSA presenter.
“We’ve seen them come up with ideas that are truly based on the needs of the local community. It’s been a unique opportunity for them to grow,” Ben eld said.
This year’s Challenger team already has a track record of winning over supporters for their concept. They won this year’s SkillsUSA North Carolina championship in entrepreneurship and nished eighth in