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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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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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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