For the 18th year of the awards ceremony, UNC Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Greater Wilmington Business Journal hosted the Coastal Entrepreneur Awards to recognize and foster entrepreneurship in the coastal North Carolina area, recognizing the incredible power of innovation to change lives, build enterprise and improve communities.

Chancellor Gary Miller of UNCW, speaking to a crowd of nearly 400, noted that the job market has changed dramatically and will continue to do so, stating that 47% of the jobs that we are training people for today won’t be here in ten years and half of the jobs that will exist in that timeframe haven’t even been invented yet. That means graduates need to be able to have an entrepreneurial spirit as they enter the workforce, regardless of what field they go into. They must be able to invent and reinvent themselves and their futures continuously.

CEA’s goal is to shine a spotlight on up-and-coming companies, helping them make connections in the community as well as showcase our region’s entrepreneurial activity. This award is geared exclusively at entrepreneurial organizations and judging is based on the anticipated financial success of the organization (in the case of for-profit organizations) and the societal impact (in the case of non-profit).

One recurring theme from today’s winners is that the life of an entrepreneur is a long and arduous path – one that requires teamwork and strong community support. Many of the winners recognized the value of UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to provide that teamwork, the support, mentoring and sense of community. One winner noted that being able to just “chat up another entrepreneur in the hall” has tremendous value for sharing ideas and getting feedback from others going through the same process.

The winners ranged from health care, bio-chemistry, retail to non-profits. Of these category winners a single Entrepreneur of the Year was selected. This year’s category winners include:

Health Care

Cape Fear Clinic (Non-Profit) is a community health care clinic which is growing rapidly to serve the needs of those who fall through the gaps of the health care system.

DocsInk is a technology solution addressing the communication gap among providers by allowing for constant access for a provider to his/her office systems, patient records, and patients.

TOZAL, a patented prescription eye vitamin for the prevention and treatment of macular degeneration and other age related vision problems, has achieved significant growth and market acceptance, rising to revenues of nearly $2 million in just two years.

Consumer Goods

National Speed focuses on performance driving solutions and has seen tremendous turnaround at the hands of its CEO, going from a negative cash flow situation to estimated potential growth to 40 locations nationwide.

NextGlass has created a unique way of applying science to what is often the ‘art’ of wine consumption through its ability to help consumers identify wines that are similar to the ones they enjoy, share that information with others, and even be able to locate that wine at a nearby store or restaurant.

Manufacturing & Technology

Odyssey Fire Protection has seen a 1600% growth since its inception four years ago providing commercial fire protection services and has achieved a 100% customer retention rate.

Quality Chemical Laboratories creates advanced testing for pharmaceutical companies providing high quality jobs for degreed science students with a goal of making Wilmington a hub for advanced scientific testing.

SIVAD Business Solutions has created technology that will fundamentally change the way our country’s elections are run by focusing on streamlining the processes and technology for the organizations who are responsible for ensuring smooth, fair and reliable elections.

Services

WARM provides safety-focused home improvement services to low income people which has demonstrated a substantial ‘double bottom line’ by improving the quality of lives of those it serves and a financial return of about $15 million in healthcare cost savings alone, on a $300,000 budget.

Without Limits provides coaching to over 200 athletes, conducts events in and around Wilmington and has launched a line of apparel that drives home its brand of health and accepting no limits on what is possible in life – set goals and not limits.

Entrepreneur of the Year

The announcement of the 2014 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, NextGlass, was met with a standing ovation and enthusiasm. (Note: NextGlass also won top honors at the North Carolina Technology Association’s State of Technology event last week.)

The 2013 winner, Kelly Buffalino of Pink Trash, summed it up well “not only am I impressed with what they have accomplished, but I intend to be a personal customer.” It was clear much of the audience was in agreement that this was a well deserved award winner.

Kurt Taylor, CEO of NextGlass, was extremely pleased and honored to have been selected and credited the talent and dedication of their small but accomplished team.  Taylor stated that it was exciting, having grown up here in Wilmington, to be able to come back here to start his company and was pleased with the incredible support he has received from the community.

The Cape Fear IMAF (Inception Micro-angel Fund) has made an investment in NextGlass. According to Dallas Romanowski, “our goal is to find companies that have a product that meets a real need in the market and is scalable and NextGlass is one of those companies”.

The NextGlass team will launch their product mid-summer of 2014 with a goal of “rapidly growing the user base.”  Wilmington, as well as the rest of the wine-loving communities around the world, will be waiting to toast the launch of this exciting innovation. “Salute!”

 Editor’s note: Sandra Bates is an international consultant, speaker and author on innovation, a co-creator of the Franchise for Humanity, and a board member of the Edison Awards. Since her move to Wilmington two years ago, she has become a friend and mentor to UNCW’s CIE and its clientele.