Glass cremation keepsake wins grant to help company expand with new enterprise

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

A new branch of Berlin-based business Jeffrey Auxer Designs will continue to provide memorial glass in remembrance of pets and loved ones to its customers, and, as the winner of a $35,000 competition, advance the brand.

About two years ago, Jeffery Auxer of Jeffery Auxer Designs, a glassblowing establishment in downtown Berlin, launched Remember Me Glass. The new side of Auxer’s company provides grieving pet owners and family members with a custom-blown glass cremation keepsake.

In late October of last year, the memorial business entered Salisbury University’s Shore Hatchery Competition and won the top prize, securing a $35,000 grant.

Auxer said he intends to use the money to build an online platform in partnership with veterinarians, where the vets will come on board with Remember Me Glass, each receiving a subdomain to operate as their own personalized storefront.

Under the program, at the time of a pet’s euthanasia, veterinarians would provide the animal’s owner with Remember Me Glass’ information. The customer could then order their keepsake through the vet’s personalized storefront, but the request would be received directly by Auxer and his team. The vets would get a commission on each sale they helped facilitate.

Once an order is received, Remember Me Glass would send the buyer a kit or collection box containing a jar for ashes, a prepaid return label, and directions. The customer would return the finalized kit to the business for the memorial piece to be created, and upon completion, the item would be mailed directly to the purchaser.

The partnership terms would also stipulate that the vets have an in-office display with sample items and information packets containing a QR code that directs customers to the vet’s personalized storefront. From here, the grieving pet owner can begin the process of obtaining their keepsake.

“For the vet, it’s just a premium product that they would be offering to their customers,” Auxer said. “It’s no risk to them; it’s no cost to them. We do everything through us.”

Currently, Remember Me Glass partners with a few local pet crematoriums and funeral homes. With the funds won through SU’s Shore Hatchery contest, the company will not only build a new online platform but also attend a week-long veterinary expo in Orlando to secure the additional partnerships. Auxer said that a booth at the Florida conference costs about $6,500.

“We want to try to work with vets because it’s something new and innovative,” he added.

The Shore Hatchery Competition is a bi-annual Mid-Atlantic business showdown open to start-ups and recently developed companies. The most recent event occurred in October of 2025.

Auxer said he applied to the contest six months ago, competing against about 50 entries, and that the initial stage required submitting a business plan. The program officials then selected the top 10 to compete at the Shark Tank-like live finals, which took place on Halloween.

Here, all the finalists set up booths and spoke with the judges as they assessed the competitors. Auxer said he was then required to deliver a 60-second business pitch, followed by a six-minute Q&A session.

Ultimately, Remember Me Glass won the contest, bringing home $35,000. Other businesses walked away with prizes ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.

The Ratcliffe Foundation has partnered with SU since 2013 to make the biannual competition possible. The foundation donates $100,000 per semester, allowing the start-ups to vie for a share of the funds to launch and further their brands.

According to the Ratcliffe Foundation’s website, “Since the inception of the Shore Hatchery competition in 2013, SU has awarded more than $2,190,000 in grant funds to Mid-Atlantic area startups.

They have successfully helped more than 57 businesses launch and grow their new ventures, generating $22,181,242 in annual revenue in 2024 and creating hundreds of jobs in the region.”

Auxer hopes that the money he obtained through the contest will allow him to support his mission of offering remembrance glass designs to those grieving a loved one. Remember Me Glass was kickstarted two years ago, the founder said. In its first year, the business created about 70 keepsakes. That number rose to around 200 in 2025.

Orders can be made at Remember Me Glass’ online platform at www.remembermeglass.art or by heading directly to the Jeffery Auxer Designs gallery in downtown Berlin.

Available items include touchstones customers can carry in their pockets, along with other memorial pieces.

Remember Me Glass focuses on family members and pets. “Each piece of glass art is infused with your loved one’s cremains with colors woven throughout the glass, allowing you to cherish their memory for years to come,” their website reads.

“Remember Me Glass allows family members to collaborate with the artist by choosing colors and shapes that resonate with your loved one’s personality and honor the individuality of the person you have lost.”

Auxer said that adding the cremation glass to his business has been “the most satisfying thing” his team and he have done.

“When people order online, we don’t get to speak to the customers, but we also do it out of the gallery here, and it’s like, people are so emotional,” he said. “It’s just crazy what a piece of glass can do for somebody. Just the emotions we see here are unbelievable. Just looking at something colorful and happy is better than looking at an urn sitting on the shelf.”