With little more fanfare than coffee, a ribbon cutting and a podcast, a local businesswoman on Wednesday celebrated the opening of a project intended to unleash the marketing skills of East Chattanooga youth.
"If I have one kid who covers up the [Nike swoosh logo] and comes up with his own brand, then I've accomplished my goal," Michele Peterson said at the grand opening of ArchWay.
The building, the former home of Glass House Collective, will be the site where the entrepreneur of 20 years pours her knowledge into teaching area youth how to brand products and make money.
"All I know is success breeds success," Peterson said. "If I'm successful, the kids will be successful. And the community will begin to reveal that success."
She's asking the Chattanooga community to join her in the venture.
"I want ArchWay to be where we can go out into the community with already established businesses and ask them to let us take a product like a coffee bean or a burrito or a tea that we can name, that has a specific logo designed by kids from Studio Everything."
Business partner Donna Christian Lowe of Main Street Innovations said she and Peterson want community suggestions for other uses of the building.
"This is an evolving story," Peterson said.
Classes on marketing have already started. On Wednesday, Peterson awarded a $125 Target gift card to 14-year-old Markees Stubbs and another $125 gift card to 10-year-old Savannah Rice for coming up with a new name for the building. And she gave a $250 Target gift card to 9-year-old Dakota Rice, who designed the logo for the building.
They were among nearly 20 children ages 6 to 15 working with Rondell Crier, Teal Thibaud and Strat Parrott for weeks before coming up with a winning brand for the site.
"They created a name and identity for a property," Crier said. "That's just not typical for young people, and it's cool that kids are a part of a process that helps them connect with something in their neighborhood."
Crier is a local artist on Glass Street who operates Studio Everything and works with Glass Street school-aged children on art projects. Thibaud operates Glass House Collective, the nonprofit organization created to improve the Glass Street area. And Parrott is founder of Juncture LLC., an interactive marketing agency that has worked with companies such as Yahoo, Red Bull and BlueCross BlueShield.
The former Glass House building had been closed since December 2014 when the floor caved in during a Christmas party. Peterson bought the building in July 2015 and has been renovating it since then. It opened Wednesday with new hardwood floors and fresh paint.
Peterson, who also renovates homes, also owns Urban Lawn on Main Street and REMI Home Elevators in Mountain Home, Tenn.
Peterson said she hosted a podcast she calls "Frankly Speaking" at her grand opening on Wednesday to explain how she wants to help people. She plans to host a series of weekly podcasts every Wednesday from 5-6 p.m. She said she wants others from the community to share their business expertise, as well.
Peterson especially wants youth to hear her discuss marketing strategies and ask questions.
After having them market the building, she plans to lead them in marketing doughnuts and then coffee.
"The next contest is 'Name that Doughnut,'" Peterson said. "My hope is that the kids are out here selling doughnuts."
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.