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: JLL Data Center Report Looks Into the Future—and Sees Growth

by | Mar 1, 2024
According to a new report from Dallas-based JLL, society is accelerating the volume of data it creates at a rapid rate—and that data is foundational to how we work, live, and play. That's led to sharply increasing demand for data centers in a time of tightening supply, forcing a shift toward secondary and new, emerging markets. 
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The Last Word: Double Take! ‘Living’ Sculptures Fool the Eye at Fort Worth Botanic Garden
by | Feb 29, 2024
Princeton Mayor Brianna Chacón says new deputy city manager John Land's "leadership and expertise, especially in economic and community development, will be exponentially valuable" to the growing city.
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The Last Word: Princeton Mayor On Building Opportunities in the Fast-Growing Collin County City—and a New Hire
by | Feb 28, 2024
Princeton Mayor Brianna Chacón says new deputy city manager John Land's "leadership and expertise, especially in economic and community development, will be exponentially valuable" to the growing city.
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The Last Word: How the USPTO’s Resource Centers Are Empowering Innovation by Expanding Access
by | Feb 27, 2024
The downtown Dallas Public Library is the only public library in the state of Texas to offer a Patent and Trademark Resource Center from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. PTRCs are part of a national network of public, state, and academic libraries in partnership with the USPTO to offer trademark and patent assistance to the public. The USPTO aims to empower innovation by expanding access—so it recently put out a call to 600 libraries and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) around the country, inviting each institution to consider becoming PTRCs to assist their local innovators.
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The Last Word: Irving Mayor On $30M in Improvements Coming to Toyota Music Factory

Irving's Toyota Music Factory is getting a splashy makeover to the tune of $30 million, thanks to a unanimous January 25 vote by the Irving City Council. The updates include improvements to the plaza and outdoor stage, new signage and architectural graphics, and enhancement to the store fronts of several tenant spaces, the city said.
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The Last Word: Quincy Preston On the ‘Most Innovative People in Artificial Intelligence’ in Dallas-Fort Worth
by | Feb 22, 2024
At Capital Factory's "Future of AI" salon Tuesday, the AI 75 list—a new program recognizing the most innovative people in artificial intelligence in Dallas-Fort Worth—was officially announced by Dallas Innovates in partnership with the Dallas Regional Chamber, and Dallas AI.
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The Last Word: Opal Lee Shares a Lifetime of Wisdom at North Texas Girl Scouts Event
by | Feb 21, 2024
There's a reason Opal Lee's portrait is on permanent display in the Texas Senate chamber in Austin. Known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, the 97-year-old social activist worked tirelessly to ensure that Juneteenth would be recognized as a federal holiday. Earlier this month, she passed along some of her wisdom to a new generation at a Lake Highlands Girl Scouts "3 C's" speaker event in Dallas.
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The Last Word: Deloitte University’s Heidi Soltis-Berner on Huge Campus Expansion in Westlake
Global accounting and consulting giant Deloitte aims to invest at least $300 million in the ongoing expansion of its Deloitte University cultural hub in Westlake, northwest of Dallas. The sprawling center, which opened in 2011, is "where learning meets leadership" for Deloitte employees and guests, offering multiple venues for learning, eating, networking, and well-being.
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The Last Word: Eden Green’s Eddy Badrina on Why the Apple Vision Pro Could Become a ‘Standard’ Business Tool

by | Feb 14, 2024
Eddy Badrina, CEO of the North Texas-based indoor vertical farming company Eden Green, got a "test flight" of the new Apple Vision Pro spatial computing device. In a LinkedIn post, he said the device's biggest weakness was having to calibrate it so when it tracks your eyes, it knows "exactly where your eyes are looking." But once it's calibrated, "it's pretty legit," he says, with "IMPRESSIVE" immersive videos and multi-tasking capabilities.
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The Last Word: DFW Airport’s Milton De La Paz on How Qartar Cargo Flies In 12 Tons of Fresh-Cut Flowers Each Week
by | Feb 13, 2024
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport worked with Qatar Cargo to launch a special cargo operation last spring to make sure Texans got fresh-cut flowers "that are hours old instead of days." The special cargo flight flies in around 12 tons of fresh-cut flowers from Bogota, Colombia, each week. Once they land, they're raced across the state to florists, distribution centers, and supermarkets.
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The Last Word: III Forks President on Evolving His Steakhouse Brand with a ‘Next-Level’ Addison Location
by | Feb 12, 2024
When popular steakhouse brand III Forks, founded in North Dallas in 1998, decided to return to its roots with a new location in Addison's Village on the Parkway, executives said they recognized a need to create a dining aesthetic that retains the brand's core "while reinterpreting it for today's diners."
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The Last Word: Mayor Eric Johnson on New Law Enforcement Training Center Coming to UNT Dallas
The University of North Texas at Dallas and the city of Dallas have announced a $10 million grant from the Communities Foundation of Texas toward the new law enforcement training center coming to the university's campus. Once built, it will become the new home of the Dallas Police Training Academy.
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The Last Word: SHAZ & KIKS Founders on Getting Their Beauty Products Sold by Sephora

by | Feb 6, 2024
Born and raised in Texas, Kiku Chaudhuri sees India as her second home thanks to annual trips to see it with her parents as a child. She told WFAA that she and her sister Shaz were inspired by memories of picking plants, flowers, and herbs from their grandmother’s garden for their skin and hair care, which led them to launch their line of SHAZ & KIKS ayurvedic hair care products last August.
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The Last Word: Kinaxis’ Megan Paterson on Why Her Canadian Company Opened an Office in Las Colinas
From its base in Ottawa, Canada, Kinaxis aims to deliver the agility needed to absorb today’s supply chain disruptions. Now the supply chain management software company—with more than 40,000 users in over 100 countries—is fulfilling part of that mission right here in North Texas, with a newly opened office in Irving's Las Colinas.
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The Last Word: Daniel Oney on Concentrating Efforts for DFW’s Economic Future
Oney was a panelist at a 2024 Economic Outlook event organized by the Dallas Business Journal on January 25 at the Tower Club. During the event—which featured discussions on DFW’s robust job creation record and the ongoing challenges of talent retention and workforce development—Dallas Citizens Council CEO Kelvin Walker, Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative Director Cullum Clark, and John Stephens, former CFO of AT&T and current Dallas Economic Development Corp. board president ,discussed the importance of not just creating jobs but ensuring they lead to sustainable economic development.
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The Last Word: Hillwood Communities’ Fred Balda on the Planned 4,000-Home Ramble Development in Celina
by | Jan 31, 2024
Hillwood Communities announced its fourth master-planned development in Celina, one of the fastest-growing areas in North Texas. Ramble by Hillwood is planned just north of downtown Celina. with 4,000 homes slated to "wind through an immersive nature experience" a short drive from Frisco and McKinney in Collin County. 
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