Posted by: Contributing columnist, CLARION LEDGER FEATURE, BUSINESS, August 4, 2016: I recently had the chance to accompany six Mississippi companies to Walmart’s 2016 U.S. Manufacturing Supplier Summit and I’m excited to talk about three of those companies this week. Some of these may not ever been seen as “technology” companies, but they are all either inventions or utilizing a proprietary product or process. I love being able to tell the stories of the companies we work with and being able to highlight how they are part of the fabric of Mississippi’s innovation and entrepreneurial start-up community.
Most inventions are created out of necessity and TheMaxBit is no exception. For years, gardening was a hobby and a side job for Michelle Morgan Morton — bringing both pleasure and pain. Plants have to be planted and holes have to be dug, but each time she would walk away saying, “There must be a better way.” Michelle was savvy enough to create a solution, TheMaxBit, that easily digs holes by attaching to a standard cordless drill.
The patented TheMaxBit started as an idea, became a working prototype, and found its way to a Mississippi manufacturer this year with the help of Innovate Mississippi. The product entered the marketplace in February with plans to go global in less than a month on Walmart.com. Inventing and manufacturing is a team effort, and the company is elated to be doing business right here in Mississippi.
The second company, Billy’s Original Foods, offers a distinctive gourmet experience at home for the ones who don’t necessarily have the time to invest in cooking a delicious meal. Billy’s Original didn’t start overnight. Co-founder, Billy Lieberman has been perfecting his family recipes for nearly 40 years. He opened an Italian eatery in Vicksburg with his wife Robin, and after 15 years and a loyal foodie following, they sold the restaurant to embark on this new venture. In 2015, they teamed up with Mani Chanprasith, company COO, to bring the Billy’s Original brand to many more foodies who just don’t have the luxury of free time. In early 2016, the company won a competitive entrepreneurial fellowship through the Delta Regional Authority.
The Billy’s Original brand features a flagship lineup of meals that are ready in only six minutes. The Original Lasagna with Meat & Sauce and the Original Meatballs with Sauce & Cheese are available now in Kroger stores in five states. A third artisan item that is ready to eat, the Original Chicken Salad, will be available later this year. In addition to preparing for their Walmart.com sales channel, they are in discussions for in-store Walmart distribution as well. The company produces and packages all their products at their USDA-certified facility in Vicksburg. It currently employs 12 people and plans to hire more food innovators as the company grows.
The third and final Mississippi company I want to highlight that is getting Walmart distribution is RKE Outdoors and their product, DeersScaping. The company was founded when Ackerman native Trey Bowman III and Mississippi State graduate Marshall Welch saw significant gaps in the market for quality deer Attractants. The problem, they noticed, with conventional attractants was that they rarely kept deer on the site long enough, and essentially provided no long-term nutritional benefits for the deer. That’s when the first version of DeerScaping was created — a blend of grains and minerals that not only kept deer on the feed site, but also provided the nutrients that helped maintain and grow healthier populations of deer.
DeerScaping Attractants are engineered for true Palatable Digestible Nutrition, keeping deer on the site longer and more often. With proper habitat and genetic conditions, DeerScaping Growth Factor 2/20 can add 20 inches to a deer in two years, an industry leading accomplishment.
With these three companies securing online distribution through Walmart.com and very close to in-store distribution at Walmart, they are definitely positioned to grow their markets. They are also great examples of Mississippi entrepreneurs and fully represent the breadth of entrepreneurship in Mississippi. I’ll write next week about the other 3 companies that we accompanied to the Walmart 2016 U.S. Manufacturing Supplier Summit. By then I’ll hopefully have an update on in-store distribution for these three and the other three companies as well.
Tony Jeff is the president and CEO of Innovate Mississippi. He can be reached at tjeff@innovate.ms.