The 2026 PYA Ballard Innovation Award live pitch competition on April 22 hosted five high-growth startups vying for a total of $65,000 in monetary and strategic support from PYA.
EVRCool won first place, $50,000 in non-dilutive capital and in-kind tax, accounting, strategy, and marketing services. Second place was awarded to TerraSync, and third place went to CE Tools Inc., receiving $10,000 and $5,000 of in-kind support, respectively.
In total, this is the largest prize of its kind available to startups in the region. Since its inception in 2021, the PYA Ballard Innovation Award has granted more than $400,000 in cash and in-kind services to outstanding high-growth startups in East Tennessee.
Founded by Josh Roby and Jacob Swain, EVRCool is filling a major gap in the industrial chiller industry. Conventional air cooling and legacy liquid cooling systems are energy-intensive, physically large, and increasingly unable to keep up with the demands of high-density computing and electrified systems. To solve these problems, EVRCool’s advanced cooling technologies significantly increase heat transfer efficiency while reducing system size, energy consumption, and operational complexity.
“PYA is honored to recognize EVRCool and all of the innovative startups that competed this year,” said PYA CEO Marty Brown. “Their ingenuity and aspirations represent the values shared by all founders and the future they collectively imagine. For six years, the PYA Ballard Innovation Award has recognized those values because through PYA’s own entrepreneurial experience, we know a spirit of innovation energizes the community. We’re proud to advance the economic development and vibrant entrepreneurial center of our region.”
TerraSync, founded by Wesley Pitts, uses Grounds Maintenance Automation technology to transform commercial grounds maintenance management to reduce labor costs, improve efficiency, and enhance environmental sustainability.
CE Tools Inc. brings innovation to contractors’ legacy tools with improved performance, usability, reliability, and efficiency. Founded by Dan Lemcke, CE Tools Inc. offers tools built by contractors for contractors.
Other startups that competed this year include Coulomb Technology and Qubit Engineering.
The PYA Ballard Innovation Award competition is open to any early-stage company in the East Tennessee area that has established a proof of concept with accompanying revenue. Applicants must present a business plan to optimize existing operations while demonstrating clear innovations to improve the business and empower consumers. Read more about the applicant qualifications. Start-ups that meet the qualifications apply for the award via a publicly available online application.
Selecting the 2026 winners was a panel of six regional business leaders:
- Tom Ballard, Former PYA Chief Alliance Officer (retired), award namesake
- Andrew Hanna, Entrepreneur, Former Chief Product Officer with Safire, a 2024 PYA Ballard Innovation Award winner
- Alvin Nance, CEO of Development, LHP Capital, Covenant Health Board Member
- Rob Stivers, Market Leader, Regions Bank, Knoxville Chamber Board Chair
- Tracy Thompson, CEO and Co-founder, Focus Health Group, Entrepreneur and Investor
- Marianne Wanamaker, Dean, Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Chief Domestic Economist, Council of Economic Advisors, The White House
Additionally, for the first time in the award program’s six-year history, invited regional executives chose one startup to receive the Executives’ Choice Award, which provided the awarded team with $1,000 of monetary non-dilutive capital from PYA. The recipient of the 2026 Executives’ Choice Award was EVRCool.
The PYA Ballard Innovation Award is named after Tom Ballard, retired PYA Chief Alliance Officer, who spent decades creating relationships and supporting the East Tennessee region’s entrepreneurial community. He also founded PYA’s daily e-newsletter, Teknovation.biz, which focuses on technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Since the award’s inception, first-place winners include PreTel, Safire Technology Group, iO Urology, PrepWizard, and 490 BioTech. Learn about all past winners.
