Photographer turns inventor

SUPERIOR ? Jerry Avey admits he?s not a kitchen guy. In fact, the photographer and his wife, Donna, have run Avey Portrait Studios in Boulder for 29 years. Still, the couple?s lifelong dream is to open a restaurant.

Two years ago Avey was standing in his Superior kitchen cutting a melon. After he cut several pieces, he began slicing off the rind by bringing the blade toward his hand. As a hopeful restaurateur, he worried about the possibility of injury as well as the amount of time required to cut a melon.

Then he had a revelation.

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?I think the idea came to me through the Holy Spirit,? he says. In the entrepreneurial tradition of ?there?s got to be a better way,? Avey began to experiment with safer and more efficient methods of slicing melons.

The result of a two-year effort and self-funded $4,000 investment is Yeva, (Avey spelled backward), a melon peeler-slicer. A patent is pending for the 7-inch by 5-inch inch stainless steel product designed to cut watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew melons. Avey hopes to finance his restaurant with profits from Yeva.

Avey?s first handmade prototype was a metal blade bolted to a wooden cutting board. Plastic suction cups helped adhere the device to the kitchen counter. However, Avey found his first blade too sharp and dangerous for general use.

Next he went to a machinist Todd Peterson of Peterson Machining.

?I told him I wanted it to be made with a blade in the middle (of the device).? This next-generation design concerned him because too many bolts and screws could attract food-borne bacteria.
Unsure how he should proceed, Avey put his invention on the back burner. Then last September he attended a business meeting sponsored by Priority Associates, a Christian business group headquartered in Orlando, Fla. He sat down next to Dennis Shaver, founder and chief executive officer of C3D Development Corp. in Longmont.

?C3D is an enabler for people with inventions,? Shaver explains. ?You think it, we create it, you own it.? Shaver?s initial reaction to Yeva was ?wow,? admitting not every invention has market potential. ?When I saw his passion for the product, I saw the wow factor.?

That next week, Avey?s invention was translated into a computer generated three-dimensional model for less than $1,000. With some minor revisions, the company?s engineers machined a prototype.

?The prototype is used for form and fit verification, functionality and show and tell to get investors and buyers interested,? Shaver explains.

The design needed tweaking. The blade had been a problem, and so the inventor and engineers tried about 25 blade configurations. They settled on a blade similar to a butter knife that can be adjusted to slice a variety of melon thicknesses.

Soon Avey ordered the first 100 units into production. Avey is working with C3D to find markets for the product. ?We help inventors find ways to produce at higher volumes to keep the prices down,? Shaver explains. C3D has worked with Home Shopping Network, QVC and As Seen On TV.
Avey is showing Yeva at kitchen gadget shows in Las Vegas and to restaurant owners and retail kitchen shop owners in the Boulder area.

Paul Turley, owner of Turley?s restaurant, agreed to preview the product even though the restaurant doesn?t serve sliced melons. The veteran restaurateur was impressed.
?It is a great idea, a no-brainer,? he says after a quick demonstration in his kitchen. Turley made some suggestions about attaching the blade and contacting the health department to ensure the slicer can be properly cleaned between uses.

Avey also is taking his product on the road to potential retailers. His own Internet research and retail review found no other comparable melon slicers. One large and bulky professional melon slicer sells for $500. He hopes to sell his product between $19.95 and $25.95.

?We think it can be best sold when it can be demonstrated,? Avey says. ?We hope to get it on TV and in kitchen catalogs.?