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: MICHELIN Guides Director on Expanding to Dallas, Fort Worth, and 3 Other Texas Cities

by | Jul 16, 2024
A MICHELIN star—not to mention the ultimate prize, three stars—can turn an everyday restaurant into a must-go culinary destination, with seatings booked from opening to close. That coveted rating will be available in Dallas, Fort Worth, and three other Texas cities for the first time ever later this year, Michelin announced Tuesday.
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The Last Word: Cornbread Hustle CEO on Giving ‘Second Chances’ via Jobs to People in Transition
Garcia's Cornbread Hustle is a staffing agency that helps people with criminal records and those in recovery find meaningful employment, by working with "forward-thinking companies" that value second-chance hiring.
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The Last Word: Dallas Artist Rachel Larlee on Practicing Gratitude Through Creativity
by | Jul 12, 2024
Rachel Larlee operates an e-commerce site called Rachel Larlee Studio and teaches classes out of a physical studio at The Village apartments in Dallas. But no matter where she is or what she's doing, one of her goals is practicing the art of gratitude—and often, expressing it through art and creativity.
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The Last Word: G8RTech’s College Football-Playing Founder and CEO on Testing His Concussion-Reducing Headwear
by | Jul 10, 2024
A new Texas Monthly story says the startup's latest G8RSkin product reduces the chance of concussion by as much as 79%, according to a rating by the Southern Impact Research Center, which found the device provides the most effective protection on impacts to the top of the helmet.
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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: Trinity River Authority’s Matthew Jalbert on the Circular Water Economy Summit in Dallas July 15‑17
by | Jun 25, 2024
The Water Environment Federation's second annual Circular Water Economy Summit (CWES) will be held in downtown Dallas July 15-17. The event gathers industrial and municipal water experts dedicated to sustainable solutions for water challenges, attracting a wide range of city and state officials, representatives from the Department of Energy, experts from Princeton and other universities, and corporations from Walmart to Meta to GM to ExxonMobil.
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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: Benjamin Vann on Impact Ventures Becoming the Second CDVC Firm in Texas
Vann's news: Impact Ventures "will be considered 1 of 74 [Community Development Venture Capital] firms in the U.S."—and the second in Texas—"providing more small businesses access to equity and equity-like capital, especially in times like today where interest rates are higher and traditional debt is considered to be expensive."
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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: Food Truck Operator on the Planned $155M Expansion of Dallas’ Klyde Warren Park
by | Jun 11, 2024
Downtown Dallas' Klyde Warren Park is slated to get a $155 million expansion, with 1.7 new acres extending the deck park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway via a new build-out between St. Paul and Akard. According to the Dallas Morning News, the park's leaders aim to re-bid the project—which was delayed by the pandemic—in 2025 and open the new addition by end of 2028.
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