Four student teams have been selected as best research project winners via faculty vote following a poster session on sustainable business research at Appalachian State University.
The top poster was "Rocky River Vineyards" by Brittani Eichelberger, Antoine Guillaume, Morgan Hargett and Harmony Tatro. Rocky River Vineyards is a family-owned and operated vineyard and winery located in Midland, North Carolina. The researchers identified four main areas that implementing changes and sustainable technologies could have a significant impact on improving operational efficiency and reduce negative environmental impact from the vineyard.
The second place poster was "hAPPy Scoops" by student researchers Olivia Reed, Courtney Sullivan, Hannah Tulloch and Oliva Whitehead. According to the poster: hAPPy Scoops is a mobile seller of homemade, sustainable ice-cream on a mission to source our ingredients locally, limit our environmental impact, and benefit the community around us. The business core values include: ingredients are organic and sustainably produced; employees are valued and treated ethically; waste is disposed of responsibly; build relationships with the community that encourage education about sustainable solutions; partner with local ventures working towards the same goals.
The third place poster was "scrAPPS" by Jake Hartman, Megan Cooksy, John Costa, and Tucker Bell. According to their poster, ScrAPPs is a non-profit, sustainably engineered waste compactor can that will transform leftover scraps of food into compressed blocks of compost for the surrounding community to use in their own gardens and yards at their homes.
The fourth place poster was "Chick-fil-A" by PJ Allan, Kelsey Ewing, Nathan Foster and Justin Griffin. According to their poster: Chick-fil-A's
sustainability efforts include: Going antibiotic free by 2019; Building new LEED certified restaurants; Combating food waste by food donations; Converting Styrofoam
cups, one of Chick-fil-A's biggest sustainability issues to benches, as well as trying to recycle these Styrofoam cups.
The poster session took place Nov.28-29 in Peacock Hall.
The research topics focus on environmental and social concerns, business strategies and practices, and new opportunities to create value for all of an organization's stakeholders. The research relates to academic institutions, non-profit entities, and local and national businesses.
For more information on the students, posters, research, or to read accompanying manuscripts, please contact Walker College Sustainable Business Professors Jim Westerman, westermanjw@appstate.edu, or Robin Byerly, byerlyrt@appstate.edu.
The Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University is committed to advancing sustainable business practices that promote responsible management of economic, social, and natural resources.