The National Creativity Network (NCN) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2014 USA Creative Business Cup. The Creative Business Cup (www.creativebusinesscup.com) is an annual competition that culminates with the world finals in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 17-19, 2014 as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). Over fifty nations are expected to take part in this year’s finals before a distinguished panel of 20 global judges, dignitaries, and potential investors. Over $50,000 in prizes will be awarded along with extensive free mentoring and other services leading up to and going beyond the competition and the potential of private deals between investors and the competing creative businesses. The competition focuses exclusively on recent business start-ups that draw upon the talents of the creative industries, e.g., design, architecture, advertising, publishing, music, film & video, arts & crafts, IT, radio & TV, gastronomy, and leisure activities.
2ndLifeTech of Winston-Salem, NC (www.2ndlifetech.com) is the 2014 winner of the USA Creative Business Cup. 2ndLifeTech is a design solutions company that focuses on inaperçu waste – waste that is right under our very noses but frequently not perceived. Its first product,BatteryVampire (www.batteryvampire.com), is a patent-pending small unit that takes the place of a second AA battery in a device and uses the one remaining battery to power it. This groundbreaking approach uses up all of the energy in the battery and hopefully over time significantly reduces the 10 billion batteries a year placed in landfills. Dennis Cheek, Executive Director of the National Creativity Network, hails 2nd LifeTech as a potential energy-saving breakthrough that battery by battery helps the environment by both greatly reducing energy wastage and diminishing landfill toxins that threaten groundwater. He notes that “it speaks to the power of teams of designers to reimagine even longstanding existing technologies and use creative ideas to launch the very kind of new creative businesses that are the core focus of this exciting annual international competition.”
David Smith, founder of 2ndLifeTech, said, “I am excited and honored that our company will be going to Copenhagen to represent the USA, North Carolina, and particularly the blossoming, creative, entrepreneurial economy within the Piedmont Triad region of our state.” 2ndLifeTech has derived a great deal of assistance in its entrepreneurial journey from The Center for Creative Economy in Winston-Salem, NC who nominated them for this national award as a member of the Creative Economy Coalition, a working group of the NCN. “We are thrilled that this highly creative business will now compete for the prestigious global Creative Business Cup in Denmark,” said Executive Director Margaret Collins, “This award showcases David’s company and the opportunities available for creatives in Winston-Salem and North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad.”
The National Creativity Network (www.nationalcreativitynetwork.org) is a US-registered international nonprofit that seeks to advance the skillful application of imagination, creativity, and innovation to positively improve commerce, culture, education and government across North America. The NCN works with regional coalitions, tribal nations, and national organizations across Canada, Mexico, and the United States and global partners with similar goals.
Press release courtesy of The National Creativity Network.