PickUp Patrol founders to meet with Governor, Live Free and Start Advisory Council members and industry experts about app which manages after-school student dismissal process
Concord, NH – PickUp Patrol, a nationally recognized web app for parents and school administrators that provides a simple, effective way to manage the after-school student dismissal process, has been named the winner of Live Free and Start’s “Ultimate NH Connection” competition. On Tuesday June 2, founder Maria Edvalson of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, and members of the PickUp Patrol team will participate in an exclusive hour-long meeting with Governor Maggie Hassan and a roundtable of Live Free and Start Advisory Council members, industry experts and education officials who will help connect her with resources to help accelerate her business. The media is invited to attend a portion of this meeting on June 2 at 10:45am in the Governor & Executive Council Chambers at the New Hampshire State House. Please RSVP to epowers@montagnecom.com.
Live Free and Start, a joint initiative of the Governor’s Office, the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority and the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development aimed at creating jobs and making it easier for innovation-based companies to start, grow and succeed launched the competition along with a dynamic new website, www.LiveFreeandStart.com, and implemented the nation’s first Startup Concierge Service in April.
Formed in 2014, PickUp Patrol has already received significant national recognition, winning the Gold Medal in the Christopher Columbus Awards, a national STEM competition, followed by an invitation to Washington, D.C., for the White House Science Fair.
“Everyday millions of kids head home from school and they are picked up by cars, walk home, or take a bus. On the surface things seem fine, but when parents start making changes to their kids’ default plans, confusion arises,” said PickUp Patrol founder Maria Edvalson. “The average school processes over 15,000 of these plan changes a year. Most schools use the old notes and phone call system which is inconvenient, time consuming, open to error and student mishaps. Our cloud-based web application calms the chaos of afternoon dismissals.”
PickUp Patrol was selected from a pool of a dozen applicants, all who will receive support from the Live Free and Start Advisory Council.
In addition to Governor Hassan, PickUp Patrol will benefit from insights from the following key business, state and industry leaders, assembled specifically to address the company’s business challenges:
Paul Leather – Deputy Commissioner of NH Department of Education
Bill Duncan – NH State Board of Education
Brian Blake – Superintendent of Schools for the Sanborn Regional School District, President of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association.
Bruce Bower – General Manager Northeast Angels Investment Group
Hollis McGuire – NH Small Business Development Center / Live Free and Start Advisory Council
Alan Reische – Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green / Live Free and Start Advisory Council
Mark Kaplan – Alpha Loft / Live Free and Start Advisory Council
Marc Sedam – UNH Innovation / Live Free and Start Advisory Council
Liz Gray – New Hampshire’s Director of Entrepreneurship
“Our concept was hatched by way of Dean Kamen’s FIRST program and thanks to New Hampshire’s startup ecosystem and wealth of free resources for new businesses, like SCORE mentors, Alpha Loft and Accelerate NH we have been able to cultivate the idea into a viable business,” said Edvalson. “We still face a number of challenges, but being selected for the Ultimate NH Connection is an incredible opportunity to obtain advice, connections and participate in an exchange of ideas that could make all the difference in boosting our company’s growth and success.”
“A driving force behind our ranking as the 5th best state for entrepreneurs to start a business is that New Hampshire is a state built on connections,” said Liz Gray, New Hampshire’s Director of Entrepreneurship. “Our business leaders and government officials are highly accessible and extremely supportive of new businesses – especially tech startups. The collection of leaders assembled to meet with PickUp Patrol and offer support is but one example of the countless connections that occur each day to support our innovation industry.”
New Hampshire’s high tech sector employs nearly 44,000 people and contributes nearly $3 billion to the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in salaries. The state is home to several successful tech corporations, such as DEKA, founded by legendary inventor and National Medal of Technology winner Dean Kamen, and Dyn, a cloud-based internet performance provider to the most visited web properties in the world such as Twitter, SoundCloud, The Guardian and others.
Learn more about Live Free and Start and view the “Innovator of the Week” blog at www.LiveFreeandStart.com.
About Live Free and Start
Live Free and Start is a joint initiative of the New Hampshire Governor’s Office, the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority and the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development aimed at creating jobs and making it easier for innovation-based companies to start, grow and succeed.
Formed in 2014, the organization launched a dynamic new website, www.LiveFreeandStart.com, implemented the nation’s first Startup Concierge Service and developed the “Ultimate NH Connection” competition that provides an exclusive hour-long meeting with Governor Maggie Hassan and a roundtable of tech industry leaders who will help connect entrepreneurs with resources to help accelerate their business.
Live Free and Start is also focused on several legislative initiatives including the modernization of New Hampshire securities regulations which will enable businesses to more easily raise capital; simplifications in the business name registration process; and exploring solutions that would provide companies with capital through the research and development tax credit program.
Join the Live Free and Start initiative and connect today: Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
