Mar. 23—Mike and Meeka Fellows won a Decatur entrepreneurial competition Tuesday by pitching an idea for an RV park that was inspired by their own experiences purchasing and living in a recreational vehicle with their four kids.

The RV transformed the Fellows family's life.

"We were not in front of the TV; we were doing things. So, we started to see an improvement in the family dynamic," Meeka said. "We were like, what else can we do?"

The answer was develop a plan for "Selah's Acres RV Park and Resort Development," and that concept helped them finish first out of nine finalists in the Singing River Trail Launch Tank competition modeled after television's "Shark Tank." The Madison couple plans to use their $5,000 winnings to make their RV park a reality, possibly in northern Madison County.

"We want Huntsville or Decatur; we want Alabama to feel what we felt every time we went to one of the RV parks," Meeka said.

She explained that RV communities are made up of kind and generous people. The Fellowses came up with the idea of establishing an RV park about two years ago. They hope to include a pool, campground, dog run area and tiny homes.

Seven judges heard pitches from the entrepreneurial finalists in the event attended by about 224 people at the Cook Museum of Natural Science.

Other entrepreneurs pitched ideas for a social commerce platform, a farm to teach those with special needs to perform tasks like cooking, a tent-making company that would provide 16-foot tents for luxurious camping, and a trail planning and building organization. The competition awarded $24,000 among the finalists.

John Joseph, executive director of the Decatur-Morgan County Entrepreneurial Center, is co-chair of the regional entrepreneurship effort for Launch 2035, the Launch Tank sponsor. He was pleased with the turnout.

"We were, I wouldn't say surprised because we saw the attendance, but we didn't expect this kind of turnout. Someone just told me in Birmingham they've been doing something like this for years and year four they had 50 people," Joseph said.

Joseph said to have more than 200 people in the program's first year is encouraging. Joseph said they hope to make it an annual event.

There were 42 entrepreneur applicants from eight north Alabama counties who were narrowed down to nine finalists by judges across the region, Joseph said. For-profit ventures and nonprofit organizations were able to apply. The only requirement was residency in one of the counties. The process started eight months ago, Joseph said.

The Singing River Trail is also a part of Launch 2035, which is a partnership of the 10 northern-most Alabama counties and is focused on keeping the region prosperous into the future.

John Kvach, executive director of SRT, said the trail is currently planned to be in eight counties. There are plans for trailheads in Decatur on either side of the Tennessee River.

A Decatur segment of the trail would "go straight from downtown and straight through into kind of the western business park and then straight out to Lawrence County," Kvach said. "Right now, we're in the study portion of this."

Maddie Howton, a 17-year-old high school senior from Florence, finished fourth Tuesday and received $2,500 with her business idea, Gingerhead Bakery. Howton said she started baking at age 12 and started her business at age 15.

Howton has purchased two pull-behind campers which she plans to renovate and turn into mobile bakeries. During her presentation, Howton joked about setting up along the Singing River Trail because eating cake is good motivation to go for a run or walk.

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.