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: Sam Romano on ‘Doing,’ Not Just Eating, at Dallas’ Trinity Groves

by | May 13, 2024
“There are other things to do here than eat.”

Sam Romano Partner Trinity Groves “4.0” .…on creating more foot traffic for the Dallas “restaurant theme park” by offering pickleball, mini-golf, bocce ball, and more, via the Dallas Morning News.

When it was first built on the west side of the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge in West Dallas, Trinity Groves was designed for reinvention as an incubator of new restaurant concepts....

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The Last Word: Spacee’s Skip Howard On the Rapid Rise of Generative AI in Knowledge Work
Dallas-based Spacee brings next-gen retail tech to life with virtual touchscreens and “invisible” inventory robots powered by AI. Its founder's insights lead him to believe knowledge work is being quickly replaced by generative AI.
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The Last Word: Dallas Sports Commission On Name Reveal of City’s First-Ever Women’s Pro Soccer Team

“Welcome home Dallas Trinity FC”

Dallas Sports Commission
.…on the name reveal of Dallas’s first-ever women’s professional soccer team at Klyde Warren Park on May 9, via LinkedIn.
...

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The Last Word: ABC News’ Deborah Roberts On Becoming a Leader — ‘Just Own It’
Texas Women's Foundation presented #BESTSELF and the Leadership Forum & Awards Celebration, setting the stage with a powerful conversation between ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts and Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall.
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The Last Word: Axxess’ John Olajide on the U.S.‑Africa Business Summit in Dallas May 6‑9

by | May 6, 2024
The summit is slated to bring together over 1,500 distinguished leaders from both the U.S. and Africa, from both the public and private sectors. African heads of state have traveled to Dallas for the event, along with international investors, senior government officials from the U.S. and Africa, Fortune 500 executives, leading small businesses, and key stakeholders from multilateral organizations, the city said
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The Last Word: Krista’s Luther Birdzell on AI as ‘Technology That Understands People’
by | May 2, 2024
Dallas-based Krista provides a natural language processing-based platform that helps companies "integrate any AI into processes to improve business outcomes." That gives Birdzell plenty of reasons to muse on how AI and people intersect.
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The Last Word: RREAF Holdings’ Kip Sowden on Keeping His CRE Platform All in the Family
by | May 1, 2024
Founded in 2001, Sowden's privately held, vertically integrated CRE firm has an even longer history in the industry, with roots going back some 37 years. RREAF operates across multiple platforms, targeting different segments of the real estate market, including multifamily and hospitality. With nearly 500 employees and assets of $4.5 billion, it's not surprising that an IPO would seem to be in the picture. 
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The Last Word: Dallas Billionaire Tom Dundon on Why He Bought and ‘Fixed’ an NHL Team
by | Apr 29, 2024
Dundon, the chairman and managing partner of Dallas-based Dundon Capital, became the majority owner of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes in 2017, three years after he took Dallas-based auto loan giant Santander Consumer USA public with an IPO that raised $1.8 billion. He's also a co-owner of the PPA Pickleball Tour—which merged in March with Austin-based MLP by Margaritaville—and an investor in Pickleball.com. 
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The Last Word: Mayor Johnson on Dallas Wings’ 2026 Move To Dallas Memorial Auditorium

by | Apr 25, 2024
The WNBA's Dallas Wings have played at College Park Center in Arlington for the last eight seasons and will be hooping their there through 2025. But thanks to a Wednesday vote by the Dallas City Council, the team will finally be playing in the city emblazoned on their jerseys starting in 2026.
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The Last Word: RevTech Principal On VC Value-Add Beyond Capital
North Texans took the stage at Texas Venture Gala & Forum last weekend in Austin.
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The Last Word: WalletHub Analyst On Best Places to Start a Business in 2024
Fort Worth is the top city in Texas, and three other North Texas cities made the top tier.
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The Last Word: PX Technology CEO on Operating with ‘LOA’
by | Apr 22, 2024
Sullivan helms Plano-based PX Technology, which has just been acquired by Maryland-based patient advocacy healthtech company CareMetx. Writing on LinkedIn, he describes himself as a "servant leader with a reputation for integrity, transparency, persistence, and employee loyalty." 
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The Last Word: Red Productions’ Red Sanders on Producing ‘Fruitcake,’ Based on a Nearly $17M Embezzlement from Corsicana Bakery

by | Apr 18, 2024
From the early 2000s to 2013, something illegal got baked up at Corsicana-based Collin Street Bakery & Cafe—a relentless embezzlement of nearly $17 million by the bakery's comptroller, Sandy Jenkins. 
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The Last Word: HundredX’s Rob Pace on Partnering with Forbes on the 2024 Best Brands for Social Impact List
Dallas-based HundredX, a mission-based data and customer insights provider, partnered with Forbes to create the newly released 2024 Best Brands for Social Impact list. Powered by HundredX data, the list recognizes the top 300 brands for social impact based on over four million pieces of consumer feedback on more than 3,000 businesses during the past year.
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The Last Word: Dallas Council Member Jaynie Schultz on Proposed Improvements for Dallas’ Central Library
by | Apr 16, 2024
The Dallas Public Library's J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in downtown Dallas—one of America's largest—was built in 1982 across from Dallas City Hall, and many agree it could use an overhaul. That especially includes library officials and consultants they brought in for a report on the building's future, among other needed investments in the city's library system.
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The Last Word: Charlotte Jones on Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones’ Doodling Masterpieces
by | Apr 11, 2024
In March, Dallas Cowboys Owner and GM Jerry Jones did an interview with Dallas Morning News sportswriter David Moore about Dak Prescott's Super Bowl-winning potential. When a photo from the interview was posted on X, it went viral fast—even faster than the 'Pokes end their playoff runs.
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