Without our sponsors, we would not be able to do what we do. So, every Saturday starting from January 25th, Team SMART will be highlighting one of our sponsors on our social media. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks!
Smoky Mountain Getaways
Smoky Mountain Getaways is a property management/real estate company handling vacation rentals in our area. Thank you for sponsoring us! We got in touch with Laura Bowers to ask her a few questions.
What does your business do? We are a property management/real estate company that handles over 60 vacation rentals in the towns of Dillsboro, Sylva, Cullowhee, Cherokee, Bryson City, Nantahala, and Maggie Valley, NC. How long have you been in business? 18 years. Why do you sponsor SMART? Many of us grew up in this community and we love supporting local organizations! How do you use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in your business? We use math in all aspects of our business from calculating the square footage of a home to doing the month-end accounting. Having those skills is vital to running a successful business. |
Wilson Family Chiropractic
Wilson Family Chiropractic is a local business providing chiropractic care in our area. Thank you for sponsoring us! We got in touch with Dr. Katie Wilson to ask her a few questions.
What does your business do? Our office provides chiropractic care, massage therapy, nutritional advice, and we sell retail products relating to natural health. How long have you been in business? 12.5 years. Why do you sponsor us? It is a great event for students to learn and grow. How do you use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in your business? We use various medical equipment in addition to our adjustments and massage. We have a Class IV Laser, Spinal Decompression table, Digital X-RAY, and Electrical stimulation unit. All of these have a scientific basis for their development and then use. |
Andy Shaw FOrd
Andy Shaw Ford is the Ford dealership in our hometown of Sylva and one of our sponsors as of this year. We got in touch with Kayla Ross, the Marketing Manager at Andy Shaw Ford, to ask her a few questions.
What does your business do? We are Sylva’s hometown Ford dealership. We sell new Fords and used vehicles of all makes and models. At Andy Shaw Ford, we have a top-notch service center where we can take care of all your maintenance and repair needs so your car can get back to providing great performance. Andy Shaw Ford is also the preferred Auto Body Repair shop in Sylva and specializes in collision and dent repair. How long have you been in business? We have been serving Jackson County for a little over 20 years. Why do you sponsor us? We sponsor Smoky Mountain Robotics because this is a program that motivates and inspires students to excel in STEM subjects. STEM occupations are growing and are critical to the stability and economy of our future. This program gives the potential for students to develop skills that they need in order to start a career in the STEM field, all while also having fun! How do you use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in your business? STEM plays an important role in the automotive industry, from the time a vehicle is built to maintenance and repair of a vehicle, to the new vehicle technologies such as backing/parking sensors, navigation, etc. Our dealership is infiltrated with science, technology, engineering, and math! This article discusses car maintenance and STEM. https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/education/stem-learning-car-maintenance/ |
An aerial view of Andy Shaw Ford.
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Stacy Adams Law
Stacy Adams is an attorney in our area. She’s supported us since our first year both as a sponsor and by cheering us on at competitions. We got in touch with Stacy to ask her a few questions.
What does your business do? I’m an attorney in Sylva, NC. I have been an attorney for 25 years. Most of my experience is in criminal law. I was an Assistant District Attorney for 15 years. For the past 6 years, I have had my own law office, Stacy L. Adams, Attorney at Law, PLLC. I am currently working part-time. I don’t have any employees, and I work out of my house. The best way to contact me is by email at [email protected] or my office phone number 828-356-8304. I represent mostly criminal clients on everything from simple speeding tickets to serious felonies such as drug charges or larceny. I have also handled personal injury cases, Social Security Disability cases, family law, and simple wills. Why do you sponsor us? I sponsor robotics because I think it is important for students to have an alternative to traditional sports. Robotics gives the students a chance to compete as a team and grow as individuals while learning a variety of skills. I have been truly amazed by the robotics program and the competitions. I think it is important to support the local students and community. Also, my son is on the team. How do you use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in your business? In my job, I try to avoid math, but I use technology every day. I can fax from my computer, and I have a portable scanner and printer to use when I meet with clients. |
Stacy with our 2018 robot, LNDRY.
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ATS Machine Safety Solutions
ATS Machine Safety Solutions is a local machine shop in our area. This year, they provided us with many materials and much support in our mechanical endeavors. We got in touch with Matt Welsh to ask him a few questions.
What does your business do? ATS manufactures and distributes safety shields and devices for metalworking equipment commonly used in the manufacturing industry. How long have you been in business? Since 2006. Why do you sponsor us? I am a 2004 SMHS graduate and one of the only machine shops in the area. It is a great way to give back to my local community and work with the future generation. How do you use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in your business? One of our main pieces of equipment is essentially a large robot - a CNC milling machine. It takes blank pieces of metal and cuts out shapes and contours based on computer programming. We use 3D solid modeling software as well as 2D AutoCad to engineer parts. I would say STEM is a large part of our business, especially with custom projects. For more information about ATS Machine Safety Solutions, check out their website at atssafety.com/. |
Inside ATS Safety's machine shop.
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Harris Regional Hospital
The Harris Regional Hospital is a healthcare provider and one of our sponsors as of this year. We contacted Sara Crawford, the Director of Marketing and Communications there, to ask her a few questions.
What does your business do? Harris Regional Hospital has been serving Jackson and surrounding counties since 1929 by providing high quality, compassionate healthcare close to home. Why do you sponsor us? Harris Regional Hospital is proud to sponsor the Smoky Mountain High School Robotics Team because of the ingenuity and inspiration it instills in our future generation. How do you use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in your business? There is still so much to be discovered in healthcare as it relates to the human body and how we can best care for our communities and those across the world. All aspects of learning encompassed in the STEM programming will have an effect on medicine and healthcare now and even more so in the future. Any way that we can support and inspire young world-changers, we are happy to do so. We believe that can be accomplished through this program. Healthcare is one of the few fields where science, technology, engineering, and math all work in tandem every single day. We can’t do one without the other three. Technology drives our systems and how we connect to our patients and their health. Science drives our knowledge behind the care we provide to our patients. Engineering allows for the collaboration of technology and science in equipment and resources available to care for our patients and know them better; inside and out. Thanks so much and thank you for allowing us the opportunity to support such a great group! |
A view of the Harris Regional Hospital.
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Stanberry Insurance
Stanberry Insurance has been sponsoring us since our first year. We contacted Kevin Stanberry to ask him a few questions.
What does your business do? We are an independent insurance agency that offers Home, Auto, Umbrella, Motorcycle, RV, Life, Health and all Business Insurance. We represent numerous companies to give our customers more options for their needs. How long have you been in business? Stanberry Insurance opened in 1980. Why do you sponsor us? We like to help the children in our area do things they love to do. This includes the arts, academics, and sports. How do you use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in your business? We definitely use technology in our business. We actually employee a person full-time to handle all of our IT needs. We have three offices (Sylva, Waynesville, Highlands) and 38 employees. It’s very important that we give them the tools to be successful and a huge part of this is technology. We are able to transfer calls from office to office to find someone to help customers immediately, we make sure our hardware is the best you can have so our employees computers always run quickly and don’t get bogged down. We have an Agency Management System that gives us the capability to serve our customers the best way possible. This is just a few things we use technology-wise. Hope you guys have a great Robotics season! |
Stanberry Insurance's Sylva office.
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The Dillsboro Chocolate Factory
The Dillsboro Chocolate Factory has been sponsoring us since our first year. We got in touch with Bobby and Tonya Williams, the owners of the Dillsboro Chocolate Factory, to ask them a few questions.
What does your business do?
In short, we make chocolate dreams come true! We are an artisan chocolate company where we hand-craft most of what we sell from fudge to handmade chocolates and truffles. We also have a full-service coffee and espresso bar and a complete line of whole bean coffees. Other items we offer for sale include over 30 types of beef jerky, mugs and cups, jelly bellies and more. We have two locations, our main store in Dillsboro and our second location in downtown Waynesville.
How long have you been in business?
The Dillsboro Chocolate Factory was established in 1998 and we have owned it since 2006.
Why do you sponsor us?
We sponsor robotics for a variety of reasons. Our son is participating on the team, but after last season we realized that FRC and Team SMART is more than just building robots. It’s about teamwork, problem-solving, business, and marketing. Through FRC, the students are learning skills which apply to being successful college students and later on with adulting. We sponsor you guys because we believe in the mission to grow and develop young people into adults who can solve problems with creative solutions. It’s little things like composing emails to sponsors asking questions. It’s called communicating and like my organic chemistry professor once said, you can be the greatest scientist or doctor in the world but if you can’t communicate your ideas then none of matters. FIRST is teaching you guys this.
How do you use STEM in your business?
On the surface, it might not make much sense for a chocolate company to get involved with robotics, especially one who hand-crafts much of what we do. However, chocolate making is food science. Chemistry is involved in making our recipes. We have computer-controlled equipment and sometimes those machines fail. We try to fix some of it on sight which means replacing circuit boards, thermal sensing equipment and such. We use STEM in our point of sale system for checking guests out and taking orders. We use STEM to process credit card transactions. The entire operation is run an app on our iPads and accounting software on our computers. In fact, most retail businesses today would not operate without science and technology from computers to the Internet to providing wi-fi to guests. STEM is very much a part of our existence. You could say there is STEM in every bite of chocolate.
What does your business do?
In short, we make chocolate dreams come true! We are an artisan chocolate company where we hand-craft most of what we sell from fudge to handmade chocolates and truffles. We also have a full-service coffee and espresso bar and a complete line of whole bean coffees. Other items we offer for sale include over 30 types of beef jerky, mugs and cups, jelly bellies and more. We have two locations, our main store in Dillsboro and our second location in downtown Waynesville.
How long have you been in business?
The Dillsboro Chocolate Factory was established in 1998 and we have owned it since 2006.
Why do you sponsor us?
We sponsor robotics for a variety of reasons. Our son is participating on the team, but after last season we realized that FRC and Team SMART is more than just building robots. It’s about teamwork, problem-solving, business, and marketing. Through FRC, the students are learning skills which apply to being successful college students and later on with adulting. We sponsor you guys because we believe in the mission to grow and develop young people into adults who can solve problems with creative solutions. It’s little things like composing emails to sponsors asking questions. It’s called communicating and like my organic chemistry professor once said, you can be the greatest scientist or doctor in the world but if you can’t communicate your ideas then none of matters. FIRST is teaching you guys this.
How do you use STEM in your business?
On the surface, it might not make much sense for a chocolate company to get involved with robotics, especially one who hand-crafts much of what we do. However, chocolate making is food science. Chemistry is involved in making our recipes. We have computer-controlled equipment and sometimes those machines fail. We try to fix some of it on sight which means replacing circuit boards, thermal sensing equipment and such. We use STEM in our point of sale system for checking guests out and taking orders. We use STEM to process credit card transactions. The entire operation is run an app on our iPads and accounting software on our computers. In fact, most retail businesses today would not operate without science and technology from computers to the Internet to providing wi-fi to guests. STEM is very much a part of our existence. You could say there is STEM in every bite of chocolate.