A kitchen accident requiring emergency room stitches led Sam Shipp and his wife Jen to invent the Knife Glider, a tool designed to prevent injuries while using a sharp knife. To raise money to develop and fine tune their kitchen accessory, Sam Shipp, who has an MBA, turned to non-traditional resources: crowd funding and venture capital funds. Shipp choose Indiegogo, an international crowd funding platform, to solicit $10,000 in contributions…
Be afraid. Or even better, be afraid and alert. You and your computers are vulnerable to cybercrime: hacking and viruses, which lead to crashes and the loss of your data, sensitive information and money. If your computer is running slower than before, you probably have a virus, according to Victor Leal, owner of CyberNation. Even with reliable antivirus software from AVG, Norton or MacAfee, computer viruses along with malware, worms…
Donna farmer John Billman read a farm magazine story that changed his life. “I was trying to find ways to bring more customers to my vegetable stand,” he said. The article on corn mazes intrigued him enough to call the family it profiled. “For the next two years, my farmer friends all said I was crazy, talking about mazes and that no one was going to pay money to go…
Hunting season seems to start in the Rio Grande Valley when brothers Justin and Chris Curl put on their annual Texas Hunters and Sportsman Expo. While whitewing dove season officially opens in September, the three-day, mid-July expo ramps up the anticipation for hunters the way that Christmas decorations get kids excited for Santa Claus’ arrival. Hunters begin to prep their gear and consider upgrading to the newest products on the…
For Chuck Kennedy, the hot new field of 3D printing is not that new. He has been in the industry for 20 years, going back to the days when the process was known as rapid prototyping. Originally an engineering technician for the earliest machines, Kennedy started his own equipment service company specializing in Polyjet ™3D printers in 2006. In May 2012, Kennedy launched his EDGE PDM in Oregon and began…
For your next company retreat or in-depth training, Chuck Olson said you should consider a setting that provides meals, accommodations, meeting rooms and off-hours activities, all for about $100 per day per person. Cruises out of Galveston and Houston ports are plentiful and affordable from September to April, according to the owner of Chuck Olson Tours & Cruises. “Cruising is a great value for your money, an all-inclusive retreat. Right…
“What I enjoy is putting people to work and giving them the opportunity to feed their family. That’s more gratifying to me than anything else,” Maurice Welton said. Since 2007, he has opened four Edible Arrangements stores in the Valley. The store’s artfully cut fresh fruit baskets and bouquets have become a welcome addition to parties around the Valley. Welton is pleased that the demand for Edible Arrangements products keeps…
If you have been doing business with Mexican companies, you have an inkling of what doing business in China will be like. The countries have similar business cultures, most of which are diametrically opposite of American customs and culture, said Alberto Garcia-Jurado, CEO of Cultural Intelligence based in Mexico City and San Antonio. Garcia-Jurado spoke on “When East meets West: negotiating with the Chinese” at a presentation hosted by the…
In 2013, VAMOS scholarships were given to 49 new graduates of Valley high schools. The renewable awards cover all their unmet financial obligations at a four–year college or university. The scholarships are a critical element in improving educational opportunities for Hispanic students of Starr, Hidalgo and Cameron counties who rank in the top 25% of their class. Yet individual mentoring is a less visible but equally important mission of VAMOS,…
“Lean forward. Look for someone to help.” That’s the instruction Francisco Castellanos, owner of the Chick-fil-A store in Harlingen, gives to his employees. “My job as a leader is talking about the word ‘anticipation’ and about trying to create a meaningful difference in interactions with guests through intentional acts of kindness. If I preach this every day and back it up with actions of my own, you can make it…