David Epstein's pas­sion for com­mu­nity and the well being of his neigh­bors spurred the vision of Atlanta Con­tact­Point (ACP), a non­profit orga­ni­za­tion estab­lished in 2012 to engage chil­dren and adults through the power of play and support and engage the community with wellness programs such as sports, fitness, nutrition, and social responsibility.

David, known affectionately as "Mr. David", is a preschool teacher and tennis coach who loves working with people of all ages.
He has been work­ing with chil­dren at his neigh­bor­hood preschool, as well as on the fields and courts for over 8 years. "Mr. David" runs sum­mer sports pro­grams in Atlanta and directs a ten­nis pro­gram in upstate NY for 7 weeks. He enjoys play­ing ten­nis, base­ball, and roller hockey.

“Mr. David” is a grad­u­ate of Lehigh Uni­ver­sity where he received a BS in Finance. He lived and worked in NYC for 3 years before mov­ing to Atlanta in 1995, which quickly became home.

Since its inception, the Andrew Oswald Memorial Fund has been blessed with tremendous community support, enabling the following accomplishments:

• More than $20,000 in support of teen safe driving
• $44,000 for 11 Andrew Oswald Memorial Scholarships ($4,000 over 4 years to Georgia high school student-athletes playing lacrosse in college)
• Nearly 500 lacrosse equipment rental packages to encourage new players to try the sport without initial investment in equipment
• Grants of approximately $35,000 to support lacrosse programs and individuals across the Atlanta area

AJO4LAX encourages all lacrosse players to:

• PLAY LAX
• MAKE GOOD CHOICES and
• CELEBRATE LIFE

Jeannie Dunn, herbalist and NC native, serves as director and owner of Red Moon Herbs. After 20 years, extracts are still made in the wise woman tradition using prolific, local plants harvested and processed fresh at the peak of their season.

Red Moon Herbs is a woman-owned herbal extracts company that focuses on prolific plants harvested at the peak of their season. Red Moon Herbs was founded by Corinna Wood, director of SE Women's Herbal Conference, and Jessica Godino, acupuncturist at Four Flames Healing. Studying under Susun Weed, renowned herbalist and author, Red Moon Herbs bases its principles and foundation on the Wise Woman Tradition. Now in business 20 years, Red Moon Herbs still makes herbal medicine in this method using fresh plants from local sources in small batches. Redmoonherbs.com

www.facebook.com/redmoonherbs
jeannie@redmoonherbs.com
www.redmoonherbs.com
888-929-0777

Roger Stix is the owner and Executive Producer of Atlanta Business Video.

Before founding Atlanta Business Video in 2008, Roger had been hard at work as an executive in the banking, electronics, and finance world for over 35 years. His foresight into the world of business and passion for video inspired the revelation that affordable web video was going to be an emerging need in the upcoming years.

Ann Hite’s debut novel, Ghost On Black Mountain, not only became a Townsend Prize Finalist but won Georgia Author of the Year in 2012.

Her personal essays and short stories have been published in numerous national anthologies. The Storycatcher, her second Black Mountain novel, will be released by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster on September 10th.  Lowcountry Spirit, an eBook novella, will be available from Pocket Star, also an imprint of Simon & Schuster, on August 13th.

Ann is an admitted book junkie with a library of over a thousand books. She lives in Smyrna, Georgia with her husband and daughter, where she allows her Appalachian characters to dictate their stories.

Always artistic and entrepreneurial, Mattia Pace graduated from Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies with a degree in Economics. He worked briefly as a trade analyst and accountant before being bitten by the desire for a creative, hands on pursuit. Mattia joined Sausage World 3 years ago, taught himself charcuterie, and hasn’t looked back since.

Sausage World has been active since 1986. They specialize in producing artisanal sausages that celebrate the diversity of global cuisine and culture. Mostly wholesale producers, the door is always open to the public and their retail segment is growing daily. Sausage World sources their meat locally and use no MSG or preservatives in their products.

From “saloon to salon,” BRÖÖ Haircare has taken the home-brewed remedy of the “beer hair” rinse, and raised the bar by creating a line of ultra-performing natural shampoos and conditioners, crafted from the “beauty in beer”.  With microbrewed beer as the #1 ingredient, BRÖÖ “pops the top” on the natural beauty industry.

Frustrated by the performance of the natural hair care products they were using, Brad and Sarah Pearsall were inspired to turn the natural hair care industry on its head, by the two things that surround them in Asheville, North Carolina, craft beer and the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Taking a cue from their mothers (who had rinsed their hair with beer back in college for body and shine), Brad and Sarah set out on a journey to discover the natural beauty in beer.  Along the way, they succeeded in creating BRÖÖ, a line of ultra-performing, natural shampoos and conditioners that tap into the B vitamins, proteins, and minerals in microbrewed beer from Asheville.

Just voted “Breakthrough Company of 2013” in Delicious Living Magazine’s 2013 Beauty & Body Awards, BRÖÖ is now sold in the natural channel across most of the country, and Brad and Sarah have started spreading the “beer beauty” message into mainstream channels, as well.  Take a “sip” of BRÖÖ at broo.com, and learn why beer really does make you better looking!

Although they've only been on store shelves a little over a year, they just won the prestigious "Breakthrough Company of 2013 Award" in Delicious Living Magazine's 2013 Beauty & Body Awards.  Delicious Living, the leading consumer magazine in the natural products industry, with more than one million readers each month, picked BRÖÖ from hundreds of natural beauty products and brands to feature the industry’s most innovative and effective nontoxic products: http://deliciousliving.com/2013beautyawards.   They are so excited to be a part of Asheville's natural products sector, and are proud that Delicious Living magazine recognized an Asheville natural products company with this award.

Dr. Jeanine Davis is a horticulture professor with NC State University located at a research facility in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina.  For over 25 years, her program has been dedicated to helping farmers improve the profitability of their farms by growing new crops, transitioning to organic agriculture and adopting more sustainable practices.  Her current efforts are focused on woodland botanicals, Chinese herbs, hops, truffles, broccoli, and organic heirloom tomatoes.  You can learn about her program on her website at http://ncherb.org which has links to her blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account.

Ms. Alison Dressler is a Research Assistant in the NC Alternative Crops and Organics program at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center.  Her efforts are dedicated to helping grow the agricultural sector of the natural products and medicinal herb industries in western North Carolina.  She is currently involved with helping a new medicinal herb cooperative, a natural products branding effort, and a growing bloodroot for dye project.  She recently completed a 168 page report on special forest botanicals in Southern Appalachia.

Amy Hamilton, herbalist, farmer and mother is living her dream of farming medicinal herbs in western NC, where she's lived for nearly 20 years.

She is a founding member of Appalachian Botanical Alliance (ABA), a cooperative of herb growers, formed in 2012 with a mission to continue the legacy of Appalachian sourced medicinal herbs. ABA is focused on cultivating western and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs of high quality and in consistent supply.  Amy's farm is Appalachian Seeds Farm & Nursery. She grows heirloom tomato seed and medicinal herbs.

Sarah Schober is the Manager for BioNetwork at A-B Tech.  She works closely with the Center’s natural products testing and manufacturing programs and assists natural product and life science entrepreneurs with laboratory manufacturing, and regulatory practices.

BioNetwork at A-B Tech delivers education, outreach and laboratory programs that promote life sciences.  Educational topics include, but are notlimited to, current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) for dietary supplements and personal care products; basic and analytical laboratory skills; and customized industry training.  Our diverse outreach programs aim to support life science endeavors and awareness through community and educational partnerships, both outreach and education programs may be geared toward K-12 students or adult learners.  Analytical assistance for botanicals includes constituent, microbial, and pesticide detection and quantification.  Well-equipped laboratory space is available for rent to those interested in product research, testing, and development.