Hope College student is jamming - and he hopes you like jamming, too

Finally, someone has invented a product that would make both Bob Marley and Martha Stewart happy - and no, it is not a new brownie mix.  

Jam Jars are a Mason canning jar speaker that have been created by Hope College student, entrepreneur Matt Gira, who decided that existing speakers have become "blah and bland" and wanted to design something unique and functional. "I wanted to bring creativity back to technology," Gira says.

The concept is actually pretty simple: repurpose the iconic (and ubiquitous) Mason canning jars into speakers that can easily be connected to a mobile device. "You use a 3-foot auxiliary cord, the same way you would connect your music device to headphones," he says. "Jam Jars also come with a power cord that connects to a standard electrical outlet to boost their sound."

Gira says at first it was a "hobbyist thing" and some people felt it was joke, but when they played music through his jars, "the sound was great." Gira says the jars are currently hand-painted and come in nine colors which he sells through his web and Etsy sites.

Moving forward, Gira is readying a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds that will allow him to streamline his operations, including having the jars powder coated plus adding more features, such as Bluetooth compatibility and a rechargeable battery.  

Gira credits his experience with the Hope College entrepreneurship program, which includes his winning an investor pitch competition in March.

To learn more about Jam Jars, you can visit Gira's company (Lio Products) website here and his Etsy site here.

Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor