Lexington Park, MD — “Tonight, I’m Going to Give You the Finger!” Brian Jordan’s opening line not only grabbed everyone’s attention, it helped him grab the $3,000 1st Place prize in the region’s first pitch contest called Crab Pot held on May 13 at the Patuxent River Navy Museum. Brian is the creator of the DigiTouchProsthetic Finger which is already garnering customer interest from around the world. He and his wife and partner Donna Jordan are now trying to nab investors to help launch the DigiTouch line of prosthetic digits.
His journey to the development of this unique, fully-articulated and affordable prosthetic started with a personal tragedy.
Jordan said, “Almost three years ago, I lost most of my left index finger and part of my thumb in an accident. While going through therapy, I inquired about a functional prosthetic. I was told there was no such thing and the best I could hope for would be a silicone cover. I was told I would have to live like this and learn to use what I had left of my remaining digits. As an inventor, this was not good enough for me. I would create my own artificial working digit and now I want to share it with the world.”
Donna Jordan first had to talk Brian into entering the competition! Crab Pot, so named because the 1st Place cash prize is combined with a gift certificate for a bushel of crabs from Capt. Pat’s Seafood Restaurant, had never been tried. The contest resulted from a collaboration between the Southern Maryland Innovation and Technology (SMIT) Initiative and PaxSpace who sought to host the region’s first shark-tank, wannabe-like event. With funding support from the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County, the Crab Pot Organizing Team worked with the Technology Economic Development Corporation’s consultant Ben Solomon, owner and creator of Hyperion, to develop this first-every pitch contest.
Lights, camera and action were not the only things to consider. Who would judge and on the basis of what criteria? Who would compete and what innovations would they showcase? Would anybody show up to watch a competition they’d never heard of before? In the week running up to the deadline for entrants to the competition, about two and a half people had applied. By the deadline, though, a total of 17 individuals had entered to compete! That should have been the tipoff that something quite special was coming our way.
Contestants ranged from 6-year old Falon Clark who invented an interactive web-based computer game called National Adventure to graduate students who’ve invented an atomizing fire nozzle; a NAVAIR engineer whose business proposition relies on Aquaponics to grow, produce and deliver fish and harvest produce to machinist and wine and dog lovers. Four finalists were selected to pitch to a panel of judges while 10 semi-finalists participated in a fierce, 90-second speed round in hopes of becoming the People’s Choice to advance to the final round of the competition.
In a crowd of over 60 spectators, family and friends cheered on their favorites including Brenda Briscoe, founder of Intellectual Designs who’s two strikingly handsome relatives jumped up and circulated through the crowd to demonstrate her diverse and eye catching LED light strip and Roger Davis who can not only help anyone become a wine connoisseur but appeared to be bribing the audience by flashing a bottle of wine as spectators completed ballots for the selection of the People’s Choice.
And then, the finalist faced the four steely–eyed judges whose questions made it abundantly clear that they were probing for the true market potential of the products and assessing the business acumen of the creators. The tension was palatable as each finalist had to describe their innovation from inspiration and design to manufacturing and market share in only 5 minutes. While the judges were sequestered to decide who would take home the 1st and 2nd place prizes, contestants and spectators were up and out of their chairs mingling, sharing both critiques and compliments and nervously waiting to learn who would take nab the grand prize.
The pitches were scored on the viability of the business concept, degree of innovation, quality of the pitch and the potential for business growth in St. Mary’s County. The judges included investors, entrepreneurs and small business mentors who selected Crab Pot’s first and second place winners.
Drum roll please…. And Crab Pot’s second place winner of a $1,000 prize is Ryan Blackwood, creator of a quality, modular, scalable 3D printer which will meet the consumer’s demand for a pre-assembled an affordable but high-quality professional printer. Ryan’s company, A3D Technologies, is seeking team members and $100,000 in seed investment to complete the design and prototype his innovation.
As Ryan explained, “I am a disabled veteran currently working as an Aerospace Engineer on the F-35 program at night while A3D Technologies has become my day job. With a little help I can make A3D Technologies into a strong Maryland based company offering a unique “mostly” made in America 3D Printer that fills a large gap in the market.”
With special thanks to the judges including Adelle Pierce, Scott Sanders, Ron Kases and Paul Dettor and hearty congratulations to Brian Jordan and Ryan Blackwood and the many contestants, the Organizing Team wants everyone to be on the lookout for next year’s Crab Pot competition!
Photos from the Crab Pot Pitch Contest by Dick Myers
