Production Is In Process!!

YEY!! We have finally received our prototype and loved it! The manufacturer did exactly what we wanted (which we all know no normally happens) so we gave him the OK, and continued out production process. Last week we buffed and ground the edges, painted chalkboards and the back layer of the magnets. We glued the two layers of the magnets together to form a shadow box effect. We are very please with the outcome. Let us know what you think!

Here was our inspiration to do produce this project in the first place. The owner of Sole Hope, Asher Collie, visited our classroom and let us participate in the process of creating a shoe of our own. Here are some photos that show our process!

While waiting for production.....

Production process has been a hassel for us. We have been waiting and waiting for a prototype but have yet to hear from our manufacturer. After timeless hours of phone calls we decided that it was best for us to visit them to get everything done. In the meantime, we have switched our focus to how we are going to market our project. Check out our powerpoint presentation. This will give you an insight of where our focus is being held at the particular moment.

Wednesday March 9th, 2011

Progress, progress, progress! Today we sat down and made our marketing presentation together. We didn't realize how much there was to talk about! We also got the go ahead to draw chalk footprints all over campus with our website so, if this rain ever lets up that will be lots of fun. Facebook is all setup as well and we are almost ready to go public with that, twitter is still in the works. We are setting a date to meet with the guys over in the machine shop to start production an we are so excited! That's about it for today!! We started taking pictures for our video so enjoy!!

Welcome to our blog!

Hi, we're Jeff, Hayley, Christy, Alex, Kara and Keat from Haywood Community College (HCC) in Clyde, North Carolina.  We are in our final semester of Entrepreneurship classes and our class project is to produce a product.  During a snowstorm our local TV station aired a segment about Sole Hope and it pulled our heartstrings.  Enter Mrs. Asher Collie, the founder of Sole Hope.  She came to our class and opened our eyes with the following:

• Children in Africa are dying from a parasite called Jiggers
• The problem can be solved simply with a pair of shoes
• In Africa widows cannot own property.  When their husbands die they are left with no home and no income.
• Sole Hope will provide jobs for these widows and the people of WNC, and shoes for the orphans.
• The shoes are made from recycled materials

Our class is working with other students in the Machining Program to take a product from conception to manufacturing to consumer.  We don't want to just produce a product, we want to make a difference.  The product will be sold to raise money for Sole Hope.  We are currently finalizing our concepts and designs.  This blog is a record of our journey.