Entrepreneur, artist, creator, dog-lover.
Founder of Gah-lee and Dig Local
Founder of the 501(c)3 Food Connection
Entrepreneur, leader, writer, decades of marketing and digital experience. Native of North Carolina
Founder of Gah-lee and Dig Local
Chief Technology Officer
Senior Software Engineer
Asheville, NC
Senior Software Engineer
Firebase, gRCP, Flutter, Kotlin, Blockchain
Asheville, NC
Software Engineer
Django, Rails, React, Node, Full Stack Development
Dallas, TX
Finance Manager / Accounting
Asheville, NC
Administrator
Asheville, NC
HR
Asheville, NC
Flori and Ted Pate from Asheville, NC met in advertising school in Atlanta after college and thus began their creative careers. Working as art directors for agencies in Portland, Oregon they furthered their skills of creative, out-of-the-box thinking and became master problem-solvers. Working at large\ and small advertising agencies on from coast to coast, they ultimately landed in Asheville. It was here that they started building their proprietary software twelve years ago with the idea of connecting invaluable resources to communities at large.
The original app, Dig Local, provides a comprehensive platform that enhances community engagement, supports local businesses, and fosters a sense of connection among residents and visitors. The app helps create a vibrant local economy and a more connected community - technology for GOOD!
By collecting valuable feedback for over a decade, they have now launched Gah-lee Enterprises to create white-label apps for multiple uses.
Now...it’s time to take Gah-lee on the road and make the world a better place. Find out more!
When Dig Local was only a few months old Flori Pate learned a disturbing truth. Restaurants, universities, venues, and retirement centers were throwing away LOTS of surplus, unserved gourmet food. Not long after, she and some partners began rescuing this food and getting it directly to local shelters who provided meals for neighbors in need. Soon this disruptive idea caught on. Now the culture in and around Asheville has shifted to NOT wasting food. Instead, chefs are donating to Food Connection.
In 2016 Food Connection became its own 501(c)3 nonprofit and has since rescued and delivered over 900,000 fresh meals to seniors, working families, veterans and more. This has kept a whopping 400 TONS of prepared food out of the local landfill. For the People! For the Planet!
Currently "Fran" the free food truck offers open meal distributions five days a week where folks can order heat and serve meals to go. The only questioned asked is "would you like beef brisket, crab cakes, veggie lasagna, or one of each." Flori believes that "access to fresh delicious food is a human right." And, that "no fresh food should ever end up in the trash while our neighbors go hungry."
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.