Marty Brown with CE Tools Inc. founder Dan Lemcke in the sixth annual competition for the prestigious PYA Ballard Innovation Award.
The 2026 PYA Ballard Innovation Award live pitch competition on April 22 hosted five high-growth startups vying for a total of $65,000 in monetary and strategic support from PYA. The judges selected CE Tools Inc. as the second runner-up for the competition with $5,000 worth of in-kind strategy support.
Coverage of the sixth annual event can be found here:
https://www.teknovation.biz/evrcool-wins-two-of-the-top-prizes-at-the-2026-pya-ballard-innovation-award/
Watch news coverage of the event here:
https://www.wbir.com/video/news/latest-news-ott/east-tennessee-entrepreneurs-pitch-ideas-and-compete-for-50k-award/51-e63b207f-7bfa-4bb4-b503-6440dc01ebb9
More About the PYA Innovation Award
The PYA Ballard Innovation Award competition is open to any early-stage company in the East Tennessee area that has established a proof of concept with accompanying revenue. Applicants must present a business plan to optimize existing operations while demonstrating clear innovations to improve the business and empower consumers. Read more about the applicant qualifications. Start-ups that meet the qualifications apply for the award via a publicly available online application.
The PYA Ballard Innovation Award is named after Tom Ballard, retired PYA Chief Alliance Officer, who spent decades creating relationships and supporting the East Tennessee region’s entrepreneurial community. He also founded PYA’s Teknovation.biz, which covers regional stories about technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development.