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: Schwab’s Jonathan Craig on the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge Champion’s Prize

by | May 11, 2023
A certain percentage of Dallas Innovates readers must be salivating at the sight of the 1973 Ford Bronco above. If you'd like to own it, no problem—you just have to win the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, a PGA Tour event set for Memorial Day Weekend at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.
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The Last Word: Lauren Lemunyan On How to Get What Matters Most Done Without Losing Your $#!%!

“The average person is only productive for three hours.”

Lauren Lemunyan
Founder and CEO 
Spitfire Coach

.…on why we need to focus on what matters most

....

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The Last Word: Offices.net’s Teresha Aird on How Using ChatGPT Is Like Making a ‘Dream Hire’
Teresha Aird has used ChatGPT for her work with Dallas-based Offices.net, and she's a believer.
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The Last Word: JPMorgan’s Michelle Thomas on Working to Overcome Disparities in Opportunity
by | May 8, 2023
Thomas sat down with Dallas Weekly's Jess Washington to talk about a range of issues her company is working on in an effort to overcome disparities in opportunity. They include skills training efforts to help people advance in the labor market; bridging the "wealth divide" by providing access to capital and tech assistance to underserved entrepreneurs; supporting efforts to revitalize underinvested communities that are facing gentrification; and more.
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The Last Word: Julie Robinson on the Team Behind Beyond the Bar in Richardson

Julie and Reid Robinson, former owners of the bars Brizo and The Forum in Richardson, are opening something new in the same city: Beyond the Bar, which they call the first alcohol-free "bottle shop" in the Dallas area. 
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The Last Word: Mouser’s Glenn Smith on Marking 50 Years at His Company
by | May 3, 2023
Glenn Smith was a junior in college when he got a part-time job as one of 12 employees in the warehouse of an electronics startup in San Diego. Unlike most college juniors, his job lasted longer than a semester—a lot longer. He's now celebrating his 50th anniversary at Mouser Electronics, a Berkshire Hathaway company whose HQ and central hub is in Mansfield, a suburb south of Arlington.
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The Last Word: Dallas AI’s Aamer Charania On ‘ChatGPT in Medicine’
by | May 2, 2023
On Wednesday at 6 p.m., Charania will host a "ChatGPT in Medicine" online meetup sponsored by Dallas AI, the largest nonprofit AI forum in North Texas. His guest: Harvey Castro, MD, author of "ChatGPT and Healthcare: The Key to the New Future of Medicine."
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The Last Word: Nada’s John Green on Making the $27T Home Equity Market More Accessible
Green is the former leader singer of a punk rock band, who toured the world and put out two albums in his early twenties. But now he's taking the stage in a different way—by leading his startup Nada into the $27 trillion home equity market.
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The Last Word: Sinclair Digital’s Farukh Aslam on Snagging an Economic Development Agreement with Fort Worth

by | Apr 27, 2023
On Tuesday, the Fort Worth City Council approved an economic development agreement with Sinclair Digital, the smart buildings tech startup that brought The Sinclair—a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel called "the world's first all-digital hotel"—to downtown Fort Worth. Under the agreement, Sinclair Digital will launch a new corporate R&D and tech center in downtown Fort Worth. According to the Star-Telegram, city tax incentives will enable the hiring of 30 to 40 new employees over the next few months, with programmers included in the new positions.
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The Last Word: Afloat’s Sarah-Allen Preston on Why She Launched Her Dallas-Based Gifting App
by | Apr 26, 2023
Last year, Dallas Innovates introduced you to Preston just after the SMU grad had launched Afloat, an app that lets users send curated gifts from local retailers with same or next-day delivery.  Just over a year after launching, Afloat now has 10 employees, 12,000 users, and connections to 70 local business in Dallas and Kansas City, the Dallas Morning News reports—and is looking to raise $3 million in growth funding after earlier raising over $1.5 million.
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Chris Rawley, CEO of Harvest Returns, a crowdfunding platform for agriculture, is optimistic on the future of ranching.
The Last Word: Harvest Returns’ Chris Rawley on Reaching a $30 Million Milestone in Agriculture Investments
by | Apr 25, 2023
Fort Worth-based Harvest Returns has found good soil to plant the seeds of investment success since its founding by Rawley and COO Austin Maness in 2016. The two military veterans created an online crowdfunding marketplace that brings agricultural producers together with investors, and today they announced that they've reaped a milestone: The company's platform has reached the $30 million mark in funding more than 50 farms, ranches, and other agribusinesses.
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The Last Word: The DMA’s Anna Katherine Brodbeck on Acquiring 12 Artworks from the Dallas Art Fair
by | Apr 21, 2023
The Dallas Museum of Art has scoured the world for works of art to grace its walls and galleries. But Thursday it announced 12 acquisitions it made from its own back yard—this year's Dallas Art Fair, which is open to ticketed attendees today through Sunday, April 23, at the Fashion Industry Gallery in the downtown Dallas Arts District.
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The Last Word: Omni Hotel’s Ruth Andrews on UTD Students’ Animations for Dallas Arts Month

by | Apr 19, 2023
To celebrate Dallas Arts Month, the Omni Dallas Hotel is displaying 16 animations by UTD Projection Mapping Lab students on select nights through the end of the April, from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.
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The Last Word: Dallas Restaurateur Mark Brezinski on His Tell-All Memoir, ‘ForkFight!’
by | Apr 18, 2023
In his 45 years in the restaurant industry, Brezinski has helped create brands like Pei Wei Asian Diner, Velvet Taco, Tin Star, Banh Shop. and, most recently, Bizzy Burger Merchants. Called "the father of Dallas' fast-casual food scene" by D Magazine, he's out with a new book that spills the beans—and the tacos, egg rolls, and more—about everything he's seen along the way.
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The Last Word: GM’s Reggie Spraggins on Being a Third-Generation Company Man
by | Apr 17, 2023
Last month, the General Motors Arlington Assembly plant set a 70-year monthly production record in March by producing more than 34,000 vehicles. Now a worker at the plant is featured in a company video campaign called "Earn a Living. Make a Life."
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The Last Word: T.D. Jakes Enterprises Launches Good Soil Movement, Announces First Entrepreneurship Event
by | Apr 14, 2023
Dallas-based T.D. Jakes Enterprises said the event will be held May 3 in Orlando through a partnership with Stand Together Foundation. The daylong event will serve as a platform and clearing house for business leaders, influencers, and aspiring entrepreneurs to inspire and proliferate opportunities for scaled Black entrepreneurs and small businesses in diverse communities.
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