Entrepreneurial Spirits Rise with Moonshot Events

Drinking Horn Meadery receives Shoemaker Award

The post-COVID future of economic prosperity in rural Arizona is strong, poised and ready for lift-off, says Moonshot President and CEO Scott Hathcock.

August 2023 | Issue 8 Volume 16

Evan and Kelly Anderson, founders of startup Drinking Horn Meadery, received the 2023 Shoemaker Award at Moonshot’s annual entrepreneurial awards banquet. The 3rd Annual Shoemaker Awards and 4th Annual AZ Pioneer Pitch Tour Finals shared the stage at Little America Hotel on the evening of July 28 in Flagstaff, both produced by Moonshot, Arizona’s statewide rural entrepreneurial development program.

The Shoemaker Award was created to honor entrepreneurs who have graduated from the Moonshot program, specifically the NACET campus, and established businesses in the greater Flagstaff area that hire local employees. Past Shoemaker recipients include Dan Kaspryzk, founder of POBA Medical and Robert Kellar, Ph.D., founder of Axolotl Biologix.

“This is the first time a beverage manufacturer has won the Shoemaker Award, which speaks to the variety of start-ups Moonshot’s program serves,” said Hathcock.

In their acceptance speech, Evan and Kelly Anderson said that not only did the Moonshot entrepreneur classes feed into their business success but also the network of other startup founder peers they have come to know. In the introductory video presentation, Anderson said, “There’s always a component of luck in any business being successful. We found that the harder we work, the better we treat our people, the luckier we get. I love our product. I love the ingredients that go into it. I love all of our staff. Our staff really enjoy it. Our staff are even buying houses right now, even in these crazy times. So, it makes you feel good that we are actually providing jobs that

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