Overland Park-based StinkBOSS has been selected as a finalist for the New Product Showcase/IHA Global Innovation Awards at the International Home & Housewares Show. They placed as one of five finalists in the cleaning category for their shoe and sports gear deodorizer, drier and sanitizer.

The company was one of 500 entries and 65 finalists for product design.

Entries were judged by a panel of industry experts and news media. Winners in all 13 categories will be announced during the awards dinner on March 18 in Chicago.

Hilary Philgreen was inspired to create the device after a day of carpooling kids with sweaty soccer gear and basketball shoes. Philgreen worked with engineers and developers who are co-workers at the company where she is employed to come up with the StinkBOSS concept.

StinkBOSS doesn’t simply mask odors. It uses ozone to kill the bacteria that cause stink. It dries, disinfects and deodorizes shoes, cleats, gym bags, hockey gloves and other items.

StinkBOSS was featured as a Company to Watch in the October 2016 issue of Thinking Bigger Business. Philgreen was a presenter at 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation in July 2016, where gave the Kansas City community credit for helping get StinkBOSS off the ground.