By Karen Chambless

Five Lee business majors will attend
the national level of Elevate, a Christian business plan competition, after
recently winning the regional prize.

The Lee students involved are Caroline
Campbell, Ali DiGirolamo, Josh Murphy, Derek Murray, and Rebecca Thomas. Their
business, “Remedy Flies,” will include as partners Rainy’s Flies, a fish fly
manufacturer, and People for Care and Learning (PCL).

Telos
Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund based in Silicon Valley, created
the Elevate competition. According to Elevate’s vision statement, the
competition is meant to mobilize a generation of entrepreneurs and investors
“to work for the good of others, use God-given gifts, and multiply God’s
resources for God’s purpose and Kingdom.” For a plan to compete, the business
must be for profit, founded and owned by college students, and come from a
Christian worldview. Ninety business plans were submitted to the regional
competition, eight of which were selected to present in Chattanooga. Of those
eight, Remedy Flies took first place with the prize of $20,000.

The national competition for Elevate, taking place in California next month,
will include entries from Harvard Business School and the University of
Arizona, as well as one winner of the runner-ups from each region. Remedy Flies
will compete with these three entrants to win the top prize of $50,000.

Remedy Flies originated in January of this year, through the
partnership of Lee Associate Professor of Business Guy DeLoach and PCL
Assistant Director Jake Stum. After seeing that Rainy’s Flies, one of the top
fish fly suppliers in the world, was 16 months behind in fulfilling orders,
DeLoach contacted Stum about creating a business to fit that need. Stum, also a
part-time faculty member at Lee, presented the idea to the five students in his
Economic Development course, who started working on a business plan. Within 10
days of finding out about the Elevate competition, a 30-page business plan was
created and submitted by the students.

“We have given a great deal
of our time to this company and competition, but we’d like to give credit where
it is due. Jake Stum and Guy DeLoach have been vital to our growth and success,
but most of all, we need to thank the Lord,” said Murray. “At regionals, we
defeated schools and businesses that have been in operation since 2013, while
our team just met each other in January. New developments and opportunities
materialize for us regularly, and we know without a doubt that this is a ‘God
thing.’ We are striving to do our very best to honor Him with our work.”

According to Campbell, the fish flies can’t be made by machine, and the
fly fishing industry is growing both in the United States as well as
internationally. The number of stores across the U.S. that list fly fishing as
first or second tier sales emphasis rose 32 percent over the past three years.
Due to this increase in demand, many companies like Rainy’s are behind in
production.

PCL and First Baptist Cleveland have combined to donate
$30,000 for the business development. Projected first-year revenue for Remedy
Flies is $500,000 with a net income of $200,000, second-year revenue around $1
million with $300,000 net income, and third year-revenue around $2 million with
$591,000 net income.

“For the last decade, PCL has been giving the
poor a working chance in Cambodia,” said Stum. “We are excited to be able to
partner with Remedy Flies and provide even more jobs to many who are in extreme
poverty while simultaneously supporting local village churches and communities.
It is a great business plan, but it will also significantly help others as
well.”

Remedy Flies plans to launch in September in four sites –
two in Cambodia and two in Nepal. In each village, 10 employees will be hired
under one manager, who is a pastor of a PCL church in the area. Rainy’s will
train the manager to make flies, who will in turn train his or her employees.
Each employee will receive fair wages, a school package that will help each of
the employee’s children attend college, and an emergency expense fund. At the
end of each month, Rainy’s will buy the flies from Remedy Flies and distribute
them to retailers around the country. This model could eventually be used in
every city where PCL operates, according to Murray.

PCL is a
nonprofit organization that combines training opportunities to create a
holistic, systematic approach to break the cycle of poverty. It focuses and
operates in five main project areas: Build a City, Sustainable Farming, Common
Grounds, Learning Centers, and Children’s Homes.

For more
information about Remedy Flies, contact Jake Stum at [email protected] or visit remedyflies.com.