Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas –– After pitching business ideas since the beginning of the school year, five Stephen F. Austin State University student teams advanced to the final round of the fifth annual Lumberjack Entrepreneurship Competition recently at the SFA Planetarium. The high-energy, “Shark Tank”-style showdown also featured a poster session in the Cole STEM Building Atrium.
“The 2026 Lumberjack Entrepreneurship Competition was an incredible success, and stands as our best and largest event yet with over 150 students taking part throughout the many rounds,” said Matthew Smilor, director of SFA’s Arnold Center for Entrepreneurship. “With our five finalist teams representing five different colleges on campus, it is clear that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and thriving at SFA.”
This year, the program was expanded to include specialized workshops and additional assistance for the finalists, Smilor said.
“Students benefited from pitch coaching at the Business Communication Hub, branding and marketing support from Dr. Amy Mehaffey's ‘Principles of Marketing’ honors course, and financial guidance from our entrepreneur-in-residence, Taylor Kovar,” he said. “The addition of a poster session further highlighted the diverse ventures being developed by students across the university.”
Contestants were judged on the market opportunities for their businesses as well as their situational awareness, pitches, business models and go-to-market strategies by five judges: Bill Elliott, founder and CEO of Elliott Electric Supply; Mike Karns, owner of Local Favorite Restaurants; Farrell Kubena, chief development officer of Success Foods Management Group; Loddie Naymola, SFA alumnus and entrepreneur; and Debbie Scoggins, business leader and entrepreneur.
“Our judges were outstanding and helped elevate this competition into a premier event,” Smilor said.
The first-place prize of $10,000 went to Poolboy’s Smart-Floater by Tyler Hubbard, entrepreneurship senior from Austin, and his younger brother, Carter, general business sophomore, representing the Nelson Rusche College of Business. The compact, rugged and affordable solution is the first aesthetic, intelligent pool chemical monitor that actually talks.
DendroLogic’s Palm Cruise by Christopher Marroquin, forestry senior from Plano, and Raviyah Anderson, geospatial science senior from Weatherford, representing the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, earned the $5,000 second-place prize. Also the winner of the $1,000 Crowd Favorite Award, Palm Cruise is a tree-counting device that collects forest data with enhanced elements such as GPS and digital outputs.
The $2,500 third-place prize went to Ama’s Tortilla Dough by Elizabeth Perales, psychology junior from Frisco, representing the College of Liberal and Applied Arts. Other members of the Ama’s Tortilla Dough team included Emily Zavala, nursing sophomore from Woden; Hannah Vasser, accounting senior from Lorena; and Naomi Waiser, accounting junior from Houston.
The honorable mention ideas that earned $1,250 each were Spring: The Student Calendar by Daniel Antonio, computer science junior from Dallas, and Jarae Hadley, cyber security graduate student from Lufkin, representing the College of Sciences and Mathematics, and HomeGymBuilder.com by Jaxen Bond, kinesiology junior from Round Rock, and Andy Jacobson, English sophomore from Fulshear, representing the James I. Perkins College of Education.
“This experience was nothing short of great for both Carter and me,” Tyler Hubbard said. “We walked in with a plan and walked out with funding to start something from the ground up that we truly believe in.”
To learn more about the competition, center and SFA’s entrepreneurship academic program, visit sfasu.edu/ace.