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August 24, 2012
This summer, OST challenged companies to THINK BIG – and award the top 4 ideas with $5000 worth of technology services.
The top four winners include:
- Doorganics, a farm-to-front door food delivery service located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- FoodCircles, a local start up encouraging those dining out to ‘BOFO’ (buy one, feed one) through their mobile application that has been created in collaboration with local restaurants in West Michigan.
- VN Barr from Humility Publishing LLC, a publishing company in Minneapolis, Minnesota which is interested in digitizing company’s historic documents and data in order to create an accessible web library.
- 911 Family Alert System from Brad Spurlin. Real-time updates and GPS coordinates of family members who dial 911.
One of the winners, Doorganics, was thrilled about the business growth that they are anticipating from OST’s contribution. After their launch in August of 2011 they have continued to expand and are at a critical stage where optimization of their operations is imperative to support further expansion. Mike Hughes, owner of Doorganics stated:
“We [Doorganics] are a small company at the brink of very fast growth. With support from the expert minds and talent at OST, Doorganics will be positioned to accommodate many new customers in a very streamlined fashion. We are grateful to have companies like OST in the community that support and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.”
In Grand Rapids, FoodCircles will be receiving some OST love. “We want to repurpose the way that people dine out,” says Foodcircles founder, Jonathan Kumar. FoodCircles reaches for this goal by donating a meal to a child living below the poverty line every time a person dines out using their web-based or mobile app. Called the BOFO (Buy One, Feed One) movement, this one-for-one concept is powered by an array of innovative technology; everything from a highly interactive mobile app for Android and Apple to a unique call-ahead program that creates reservations at restaurants with the touch of a button.
We will also be assisting VN Barr, out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, with business process solutions as he explores ways for companies and universities to digitize their collections of data and turn them into web libraries. “Would you believe the Frank and Lillian Gilbreth collection and the Randy Shilts collection, as well as many other donations that are sitting around unable to be used because no one has the time to digitalize and index them?” asks Barr while explaining the importance of the accessibility of knowledge through technology.
Last but definitely not least, 911 Family Alert system will allow real-time updates and GPS coordinates of family members who dial 911. The application will be coordinated between family devices. If a family member were to dial out to 911, a GPS tag and real-time alert would notify the family. These alerts can shorten the time parents and family members have to respond in emergency situations where the caller will be busy speaking with the Emergency Responder.
We are excited to share their expertise with these four forward thinking organizations. “There are so many potential opportunities for companies to leverage technology which can dramatically improve business,” said Dan Behm, “and here at OST, we want to continue encouraging companies to be creative, think bigger, and explore what possibilities exist within their business.”
