Posted by: Contributing columnist, Clarion-Ledger, Business, April 6, 2016: Last week I wrote about how “the idea” isn’t the most important element leading to the success of a technology startup. I should come clean and say that of the more than 1,200 Mississippi startups we’ve helped through Innovate Mississippi, many…
Support to Jobs for America’s Graduates Helps Boost Education, Economic Development Jackson, Mississippi – Expanding workforce training and readiness programs in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana is the purpose of a new $250,000 grant to Jobs for America’s Graduates from Entergy Corporation. The grant, funded by shareholders, was announced by Entergy…
By Bracey Harris, The Clarion-Ledger, March 31, 2016: An Oxford based startup is monetizing the oft-heard phrase, “I wish I could look in her closet.” Launched in late January, Nimble Fashion is a wardrobe sharing app allowing users to browse and rent dresses from others within their community. Initially only available in…
Posted by: Contributing Columnist, Mississippi Business Journal Feature, News, Technology, March 24, 2016. Continuing the theme of public-private partnerships, we saw from the Butterfly Model in my last column that there are four sets of players who are critical to building successful partnerships. These are 1) entities such as federal,…
Posted by: Contributing columnist, Clarion-Ledger, Business, March 30, 2016: Some readers may know that I’ve sometimes described Innovate Mississippi as “Mississippi’s Shark Tank.” Now that ABC’s “Shark Tank” is so popular, it makes it easy to explain in a few words that part of what we do. In reality, that’s only…
By Contributing Columnist, Mississippi Business Journal, Feature Article, March 24, 2016. What was the last Wikipedia rabbit trail you traveled down? For me, I found myself reading about Johannes Gutenberg. You know, the 14th century German printing press guy. Gutenberg arguably created the most important invention of the second millennium.…
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi is winning. That’s how Glenn McCullough, executive director for the Mississippi Development Authority, characterized the state’s recent economic development strides in a keynote address for the sixth annual Manufacturing Summit, which Mississippi State University’s Franklin Furniture Institute hosted Wednesday [March 16]. Touting Mississippi’s top 10 national…
By Becky Gillette, Mississippi Business Journal, Feature Article, March 10, 2016. Alex Ray, co-founder and CEO of Zyn Careers (zyncareers.com), says millennials are looking for more than just a job with a decent salary. They also place a high value on job satisfaction, doing work that is meaningful to them while interacting…
Posted by: Contributing columnist, Clarion-Ledger, Business, March 9, 2016: Two weeks ago, I started down the path of covering “technologies everyone should know.” Since then, I have had an interesting discussion about whether certain things are really necessary to know or whether they are simply helpful but not necessary. Without getting too…
Posted by: Contributing Columnist, Mississippi Business Journal Feature, News, Technology, March 4, 2016. In my last column I talked about the importance of public-private partnerships for spreading innovation. In this column I will present a methodology for assembling such partnerships which may be used as a sort of check-list to ensure…