Josh Donahue is an entrepreneur who doesn’t rely on guesswork to read his market. How does he stay apprised of what Wake Forest consumers need? He asks.
“We’re a company that listens to its customers,” explained Donahue, who along with his wife, Mandy, owns Audrey’s Barkyard. The business opened in 2018 and offers grooming, boarding, training, and daycare for dogs. In surveys of their customers, Josh and Mandy asked what new services and amenities the firm might offer. “We uncovered the growing issue of transportation of pets to and from our business amid heavy rush-hour traffic,” according to Donahue. The company’s emerging solution centers on the launch of the Barkyard Bus, an upfitted coach that will offer door-to-door transit for pups needing Audrey’s Barkyard services for an additional fee.
“It will also serve our branding,” Donahue said. The firm’s name and logo will be splashed across the bus as it traverses the town. “It’ll be a mobile billboard that’s seen every day.” Donahue’s confidence that the bus will make money is evidence-based. “Our customers have already indicated a willingness to pay for transit services,” he said.
Donahue outlined the need and his solution to roughly 100 attendees of a pitch competition on May 28. Held at the Loading Dock Wake Forest, the event included pitches by seven Wake Forest businesses, who described their challenges and opportunities for growth. A panel of judges evaluated the pitches and awarded cash and in-kind benefits to the three most compelling cases. Audrey’s Barkyard, located at 3129 Heritage Trade Drive, took home the $5,000 first prize.
The evening, which came with a catered hot dinner, also marked the conclusion of the third cohort of Wake Forest Founder’s Accelerator program, a three-month entrepreneurial development and networking experience designed to move start-ups to the next level. “We think that peer-to-peer support is integral to business growth,” said Clark Rinehart, Wake Forest Founder’s Entrepreneurial Specialist and the pitch competition’s emcee. Rinehart introduced the two previous pitch competition winners, Karen Lindquist of Green Stream Technologies and Monique Lewis of Next2Native Language Learning, who each provided updates on how their firms have benefited from the competition’s cash awards.
Participation in the Accelerator program is not a prerequisite for entering the pitch competition, Rinehart explained, though both programs are part of Wake Forest Founders, a collective led by the Wake Forest Business & Industry Partnership (WFBIP), The Loading Dock Wake Forest, the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce. In-kind benefits to the pitch competition’s 1st place finisher include a free one-year Chamber membership and discounted memberships for the following three years, explained Jim Thompson, President of the Chamber.
“Wake Forest Founders is now a fully-formed collective,” WFBIP President Jason Cannon told attendees of the free gathering. “Each of our organizations bring vital elements to the table.” Among the program’s most valuable benefits is access to the entrepreneurial networks necessary for business success. “Tonight’s event is about vision, bold ideas, and celebration,” Cannon said.
The competition’s cash prizes totaled $10,000 – twice the amount awarded at the inaugural pitch in December. New to this year’s event was the opportunity for audience members to weigh in. As judges conferred privately, others in the room were invited to scan a QR code and vote for their favorite pitch via mobile phone. Feedback was quickly tallied, with the audience also favoring Audrey’s Barkyard. Donahue was thus handed an additional $1,000 for the “Viewer Choice” award.
Judges awarded 2nd place honors to SignCraft Solutions. That business works closely with Wake Forest companies and organizations to provide eye-catching signage for their space. SignCraft was established in 2009. In 2024, longtime employee Pam Anastasi acquired the firm from its founders but quickly realized the business was using antiquated technologies and processes. Anastasi now seeks to provide her staff with iPads in order to share plan schemes and artwork with clients at their businesses (they currently do their best to showcase designs with printed materials and files downloaded awkwardly on their Smartphones). SignCraft took home a $2,500 check to help cover the costs of technology upgrades.
Alejandro Morales pitched the creation of an AI digital literacy platform for clients of his company, STOA Digital Solutions. The firm helps time-crunched business owners sharpen efficiency through customized software solutions, “taking you from overwhelmed to automated.” Morales’ 3rd place prize was a check for $1,500.
“I’ve never seen a place more supportive of the small business community and the start-up scene than Wake Forest,” said Tim Flood, a communications professor at UNC Chapel Hill who manages the Wake Forest Accelerator. Flood has helped North Carolina towns with entrepreneurial development initiatives for the past 12 years. “It’s the community here that makes all this stuff work,” Flood said. Accelerator participants meet one weekend per month and gather virtually one evening per week. “We’re very open to businesses of all kinds and at any stage of development,” Flood told the enthusiastic audience.
Generous sponsorship support made the Pitch Competition possible. Sponsors includedElectriCities North Carolina,St. John Properties, andBenchmark Community Bank.
