PIEDMONT, AL — A locally developed mobile application is aiming to make it easier for residents across Alabama to discover events, businesses and activities happening in their own communities.
Hollr, created by Piedmont native Jaret Prater, was developed around a problem familiar to many residents: finding out about a local event, business or activity only after the opportunity has passed.
Prater said the idea grew from his own frustration with trying to find a centralized source for information about what was happening nearby.
“Events I didn’t hear about until they were over. Local businesses I never knew existed until someone mentioned them in passing,” Prater said. “A whole community buzzing with life, and no real place to find it.”
That frustration eventually led Prater to begin developing Hollr, despite having no traditional background in software development or computer programming.
Prater, a graduate of Piedmont High School, said his introduction to newer technology that allows users to develop software through natural-language instructions opened the door to creating an application himself.
“I couldn’t believe I could actually build something,” Prater said. “That fascination kind of took over.”
The result was Hollr, a mobile platform designed to organize information about local events, businesses and other destinations on a county-by-county basis.
Rather than focusing exclusively on larger cities or statewide attractions, Hollr is intended to help users discover what is available closer to home, including businesses, community activities and events they may not otherwise encounter.
The application is currently available for download through the Apple App Store, with an Android version planned for a future release. Hollr can also currently be accessed online at thehollrapp.com.
As Hollr continues expanding across Alabama, the platform and the Calhoun Journal are also preparing to launch a collaborative effort designed to make local event information more accessible throughout the community.
The mutual collaboration will bring together Hollr’s event-focused platform and the Calhoun Journal’s local news and community coverage, allowing event information to become fully visible through the Calhoun Journal website in addition to Hollr.
The two independent local platforms will work together toward a shared goal of making it easier for residents to discover what is happening throughout Calhoun County and the surrounding area. Hollr users will continue to have access to the app’s event and business discovery features, while Calhoun Journal readers will gain expanded access to local event information directly through the Journal’s website.
By connecting the two platforms, the collaboration is intended to broaden the reach of community information while providing local organizations, businesses and event organizers with additional opportunities for their events to be discovered.
For Prater, the larger goal behind Hollr remains the same as the problem that originally prompted him to begin the project: making local information easier to find.
“My mission is simple: make sure no one in Alabama has to miss out on what’s happening around them ever again,” Prater said.
Hollr is currently available for iPhone through the Apple App Store and online at thehollrapp.com, with Android availability coming soon.
