Every Last Word

Dallas Innovates’ signature series capturing what leaders across North Texas are saying — in their own words — about innovation, impact, and what’s next.

The Last Word: Dallas Stars CEO on Broadcasting Live Games for Free on New Streaming Service

by | Jul 9, 2024
The Dallas Stars announced Monday that they've inked a seven-year agreement with A Parent Media Co. (APMC) to stream all regional Dallas Stars NHL games "free of charge." Beginning with the 2024-25 season, games will be broadcast on the newly formed VICTORY+—a free, ad-supported, direct-to-consumer streaming service created by APMC with the Stars.
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The Last Word: Neiman Marcus Group CEO on Neiman’s $2.65B Acquisition by Saks Fifth Avenue Parent HBC
by | Jul 8, 2024
Last week's earthquake luxury retail news caused ripples from Dallas to New York and beyond. Saks Fifth Avenue parent company HBC is acquiring Neiman Marcus Group for $2.65 billion, establishing a new "technology-powered" luxury retail company called Saks Global. And Amazon is a key partner in the deal—along with being an investor, it will work with Saks Global "to innovate on behalf of customers and brands partners following the close of the transaction," the companies said.
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The Last Word: Jennifer Bartkowski on Partnering with Toyota Connected on the GSNET ‘E for Engineering’ Patch
Today, TCNA welcomed Girl Scouts from the organization into its Plano HQ for career mentoring and to fulfill the requirements for the “E for Engineering” patch. The Scouts participated in a half day of activities including "how technology is implemented to make vehicles safer, how to use the scientific method in problem-solving, and mentorship from women in technology-related fields," TCNA said.
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The Last Word: Lone Star Analysis CEO on the Power of ‘Evil Twins’ in Predictive Maintenance
by | Jun 26, 2024
"We want to know how the seeds of future failures are sown," Roemerman, CEO of the Dallas-based analytics firm, said in an announcement. "This kind of digital twin predicts what will fail, why it will fail, and when it will fail. In some cases, these predictions can see months into the future."
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The Last Word: Maurizio Rinaldi on Chile-Based SONDA Choosing Dallas for Its North American HQ

by | Jun 24, 2024
With a valuation of. around $400 million, Santiago, Chile-based SONDA is an IT firm focused on digital transformation services—with a special focus on helping to create "smart cities." Its regional presence stretches from the southern tip of South America all the way up to Mexico, and now it's Dallas-bound after choosing the city for its North America HQ.
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The Last Word: Marty Wieder on the Arlington EDC’s Newly Designed Website
by | Jun 21, 2024
Arlington EDC's nonprofit mission is to recruit business and industry, help local companies grow, and generate quality job opportunities throughout the Arlington metro area. This week it put the city's best foot forward with a newly designed website, ArlingtonTxEDC.com.
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The Last Word: LevelBlue’s Bob McCullen on ‘Simplifying Cybersecurity’ with AT&T
by | Jun 20, 2024
When Dallas-based LevelBlue spun out from AT&T Cybersecurity in May, it wasn't your typical startup. As Bob McCullen, LevelBlue's chairman and CEO, told IT industry publication CRN, the new company launched as one of the largest startups in the cybersecurity industry to date.
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The Last Word: SilverStone Health’s Alfonso Montiel on Bringing ‘Transformative Change’ to a Broken System in Healthcare
by | Jun 19, 2024
That mission led to the creation of SilverStone Health, a fast-growing home health company, after Montiel acquired and rebranded Dallas-Fort Worth-based Comfort Care Hospice in 2020, This year, the company has expanded its continuum of care beyond hospice to include a full spectrum of home-based medical services, providing patients with seamless continuity of care across home health, wound care, telehealth, palliative care, hospice, and specialty physician services.
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The Last Word: Latosha Herron Bruff on the DRC’s New Disability Inclusion Toolkit

by | Jun 17, 2024
The Dallas Regional Chamber has unveilded a new tool that aims to support employees with disabilities in the region—while also helping boost prosperity for area businesses. The DRC's Disability Inclusion Toolkit gives businesses insights on the best ways to recruit, retain, include, and support employees with disabilities.
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The Last Word: Goodsurf CEO Zach Shor on Next Thursday’s Deep Ellum Opening
by | Jun 14, 2024
The surf's almost up in Deep Ellum, the historic neighborhood just east of downtown Dallas. Next Thursday, June 20, Goodsurf—a culinary and surf concept and subsidiary of Urban Entertainment Concepts—will open the doors and waves of its new venue at 317 S. Second Avenue.
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The Last Word: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Co‑Founder on Chain’s Acquisition by Sony Pictures Entertainment
by | Jun 13, 2024
Moviegoers in Dallas-Fort Worth have had their cinema-loving dreams dashed—and raised again—in the space of a week. First came word that Angelika Film Center & Cafe Plano was closing, followed by news that the franchise group running five Dallas-Fort Worth Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas had closed them down and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The raised hopes? That came Wednesday, when Sony Pictures Entertainment rocked Hollywood by announcing it had acquired Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and its 35 locations in 25 metro areas, as well as its much-loved Fantastic Fest film festival.
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The Last Word: Better Block’s Krista Nightengale on June 13 Loneliness-Fighting Design Competition in Dallas
by | Jun 12, 2024
In partnership with Common Era and Humancraft, Better Block is hosting a "Creating Connections" design competition Thursday, June 13, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Thanks-Giving Square in Downtown Dallas. Aiming to "heal divides and create connections," eight teams will put their plywood public infrastructure pieces to the test. The public is invited to sit in, play with, and move around the designs and see if they create connections—with five national judges choosing a winner.
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The Last Word: Rep. Marc Veasey on Ericsson’s $50M Additional Investment in Its USA 5G Smart Factory in North Texas

by | Jun 10, 2024
Late last month, Sweden-based Ericsson hosted an event at its USA 5G Smart Factory in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Lewisville. The expanded 300,000-square-foot "highly automated" manufacturing plant employees more than 500 people is "at the forefront of building the next generation of 5G infrastructure in the United States," the company says. To support its mission, Ericsson announced an additional investment of $50 million in the plant on top of an initial $100 million announced in 2020.
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The Last Word: Jim Keyes on His New Book ‘Education Is Freedom’
In one of our top stories today, Dallas Innovates' Glenn Hunter spoke with former 7-Eleven and Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes about his new book, Education is Freedom. That CEO acronym in the book makes a key point, he told us.
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The Last Word: TXSE Group’s James Lee On His Planned Launch of the Texas Stock Exchange
by | Jun 5, 2024
As we noted in our top story today, Lee's TXSE Group plans to launch the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), focused on Texas and the Southeast U.S.  The group says it will provide "a venue to trade and list public companies and the growing universe of exchange-traded products" as a "fully electronic, national securities exchange." That's caused buzz across the Lone Star State—and especially on Wall Street.
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The Last Word: UTA’s Wei‑Jen Lee on $1.6M DOE Grant To Help Boost the Texas Grid
by | Jun 4, 2024
Lee is one of three UT Arlington faculty members who've been awarded $1.6 million from the Department of Energy to help boost the reliability of Texas's electric grid. The team is exploring the use of "behind-the-meter" energy devices that may help cut down on electricity consumption—and even upload energy to the grid itself, writes Fort Worth Report's Shomial Ahmad.
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