Innovation + Job News

The Dublin Entrepreneurial Center (DEC) wants to help local entrepreneurs with their international goals and to attract businesses from around the world. That's why it's opening new incubator space called The Dublin International Business Assistance Center.

The new center, which opens next week, will provide office space, conference rooms, and access to technology and other resources. The new center will be a kind of "incubator" for local entrepreneurs seeking international markets or partners, as well as a local resource for international business leaders looking for a foothold in the huge American market.

DEC, a partnership between the city of Dublin and TechColumbus established in April of 2009, is now "home" to 50 tenants. Monthly meetings facilitate networking, shared technology, funding and education. Specialized events also help to stimulate local and international interest in the center's offerings.

Dublin was recently named a "Top Seven Intelligent Community" by the Intelligent Community Forum for the second year in a row, and many area companies boast significant international operations.

"We are the first TiE [The International Entrepreneur] chapter outside of Cleveland, and we're developing relationships with a number of organizations, like the Asian Indian-American Business Association," says Dana McDaniel, Dublin's deputy city manager and director of economic development.

"We introduced what we call a 'Green Integrator' to focus on green companies, and we now have 11 green startups in the entrepreneurial center, doing collaborative-type projects. We have companies that focus on 'clean' diesel; we have companies doing LED lighting, solar panels, and a couple of companies that do energy audits and architectural work."

Source: Dana McDaniel, City of Dublin
Writer: Patrick G. Mahoney

Cincinnati-based Wamboo wants to help do-gooders do better by linking them through social media to those in need.

The idea for the new company, which emerged from beta testing on June 3, stemmed from an accident several years ago that killed two Cincinnati firefighters, says founder and CEO Dori Gehling. After the accident, a bank set up a fund to help their families.

"The news media said stop by the bank and make a donation," Gehling explains. "But I don't bank in person, and I don't bank at (that) bank. And when I talked with a banking person at another bank, they said most of those things never get funded. I thought, that's really too bad, because there has to be an easier way to do it and maybe a more fun way."

Wamboo helps match individuals and families in need with donors. Participation is free, but there are parameters for who is deemed worthy of aid, Gehling says.

"In order to be on the site, they have to be sponsored by a nonprofit in good standing, or a police department or fire department," she says.

So far, 700 individuals -- who are encouraged to share the causes they feel most passionate about using social media tools -- have signed up as members. The going has been slower for sponsoring organizations, or "Champions," who post the critical needs of individuals or families with whom they are familiar.

"That group seems to be a little bit more behind in using social media and embracing ideas of working differently," Gehling says.

As an incentive for both individual donors and companies who want to help those in need, Wamboo has created the Wamboost.

Wamboost allows businesses to incent giving by creating discount coupons tied to causes listed on the site. Wamboo charges busineses $1 a coupon, which is how Gehling is funding the startup.

But Gehling says she's not out to strike it rich.

"I would eventually like to break even and help people," she says.

Source: Dori Gehling, Wamboo
Writer: Gene Monteith

Andrea Trgovcich puts her stomach where her business is. Sort of.

The principal and founder of the Youngstown-based Wellness Integrated Network (WIN) even lost weight while testing her Web and mobile-based application; whether or not she lost sleep is unknown.

"My daughter and I are 'soft' testing this new system. We've both lost weight on it because of the pre-diabetic style of eating, which is six times per day. It's working for both of us and we're not pre-diabetic," says Trgovcich.

The WIN application tracks patients' or consumers' dietary consumption and recommends meals and activities based on medical history, lifestyle, cooking ability, available time and preferences. WIN organizes nutritional data, creates family meals (short of cooking, that is), and collects research data. Trgovcich says the three-year-old startup will target the medical field, but the applications are broader than that.

"It (WIN) has the capability to deal with any kind of nutritional aspect. It could be for an athlete training for a marathon or someone who needs to eliminate certain things from their diet. Or it could be a lifestyle choice," says Trgovcich. "Follow-on phases include grocery store and restaurant integration . . . We're tracking by a simple green, yellow and red light system: if you did it, if you substituted, or you skipped altogether."

"We got some interest right away from people who wanted to invest and thought it was a great idea. We applied to be a YBI portfolio (Youngstown Business Incubator) company right after that." Trgovcich is also getting help from JumpStart in Cleveland for advice on selecting a CEO, a search that is ongoing.

WIN is currently recruiting 40 to 50 patients ages 11-15 for a pilot in partnership with Humility of Mary Health Partners and Ohio University Osteopathic Medical School.

"We want the results published in an official, peer-reviewed journal. We're not just doing a 'proof of technology' at this point."

We are recruiting currently 40-50 patients (children ages 11-15Source: Andrea Trgovcich, Wellness Integrated Network
Writer: Patrick G. Mahoney

A new Cincinnati company is hoping to give premature babies a better chance of growing healthy lungs.

Airway Therapeutics, formed earlier this month, is working to commercialize research begun at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center into why so many premature babies develop chronic lung disease.

Extremely premature babies -- those born before the seventh month of gestation -- come into the world without surfactant, a natural substance found in animal lungs that keeps the lungs inflated. The remedy is to replace the baby's natural surfactant with one made from animal lung tissue, says Steven Linberg, Airway's CEO.

"But part of the process of giving them the surfactant involves either mechanically ventilating the baby or hand bagging the baby just to force some air into their lungs, and also giving them higher than normal amounts of oxygen," Linberg says.

That often causes trauma and chronic lung disease for as many as 30 percent to 40 percent of such babies. Now, research by Jeffrey Whitsett, chief of Cincinnati Children's Section of Neonatology, Perinatal and Pulmonary Biology, indicates inflammation may be worsened because of a lack of Surfactant Protein D, which occurs in normal surfactant but is missing in replacement surfactant. Airway is working on a recombinant human Surfactant Protein D with the goal of adding it to replacement surfactant as nature intended. If shown to reduce or prevent chronic lung disease in preemies, all makers of surfactant would like add the protein to their products, Linberg says.

The next step for Airway is to meet with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, possibly in August, for validation of its development plan, Linberg says. Because of the number of both non-clinical and clinical studies to be done, the earliest Linberg expects to see Surfactant Protein D on the market is 2016.

"Our next goal beyond this is to move into cystic fibrosis," Linberg says. "It's likely that because this Surfactant Protein D is both anti-inflammatory and anti-infective, it will have a positive role in treating cystic fibrosis patients."

The company currently has a number of consultants but only one employee -- Linberg. It is housed at BioStart and recently received $500,000 from CincyTech and Cincinnati Children's Tomorrow Fund as part of a projected $1.2-million seed-stage funding round led by CincyTech.

Source: Steven Linberg, Airway Therapeutics
Writer: Gene Monteith

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have invented a polymer coating that can repair itself. Stuart Rowan, CWRU professor of macromolecular science and engineering, along with his team and researchers from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and the Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, has spent the last three years developing a rubber-like protective coating that heals itself when an ultraviolet light is shined on it for just a few seconds.

"The idea was to develop a coating that, if it was damaged in any way, we could repair just by shining a light on it," says Rowan. "A lot of my research is creating stimulating response materials."

The science behind the technology involves taking a long chain of polymers and reducing it to small chains. When the UV light -- much like the light used in dentist offices -- shines on them, the polymers become temporarily unglued. They reassemble when the light is shut off, thus repairing the scratches.

"It works perfectly for coating penetrations," says Rowan.

The scientists envision that self-healing polymers like theirs could be used in automotive paints, varnishes for floors and furniture, and many other applications. "The material could be used in potentially any paint or coating use," says Rowan.

Their findings were published in the April 21 issue of the journal Nature.

The team is currently in talks with companies to see if there is an interest in commercializing the material.


Source: Stuart Rowan, Case Western Reserve University
Writer: Karen Connelly

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication, Fresh Water Cleveland.

After more than 25 years of entrepreneurism and talent development efforts across Cincinnati, Indian-born tech entrepreneur Mahendra Vora is making yet another investment in the region.

Vora has just launched the new Vora Innovation Center in Blue Ash that houses several Vora companies, with additional incubator space and high tech meeting and demonstration areas.

It's the new HQ for The Vora Group and Vora's flagship Ascendum, a global information technology (IT) solutions company. Also housed in the Innovation Center are three of his Vora Group holding companies Bluespring Software, Vinimaya, a cloud-based advanced procurement optimization company and a social search engine company Zakta.com.

Vora has helped co-found and sell many successful tech companies over the last two decades. He also co-founded the Vora Technology Park in Hamilton, one the largest technology parks in the country. Among his most successful and well-known companies was Intelliseek which he founded in the late 1990s. Intelliseek was a search company that measured word of mouth marketing. It was acquired by Buzzmetrics, now known as Nielsen.

The Innovation Center employs more than 250. Its companies count a number of Fortune 100 businesses as clients, including Kroger and Great American Financial. About half of the 43,000-square-foot building is occupied with plans for expansion that include 250 new employees in the areas of software design, development, testing and quality assurance.

In addition to housing Vora Group companies, part of the Innovation Center space is being developed as a solutions center where companies can try out and share the latest technologies. First of its kind in the region, the solutions center is designed to be open, modern and collaborative.

Vora's vision for the center is as a place that will retain and develop local tech talent.

"We have the raw talent here," Vora said. "But what is lacking (compared to the East and West coasts) is opportunity and exposure. We can create an environment here in Cincinnati where the next hot social media or mobile company can be built."


Source: Mahendra Vora, Vora Innovation Center
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication Soapbox.

Former dermatology resident Keoni Nguyen fully intends to practice medicine someday. But right now, all his time is taken up with his invention: an innovative synthetic skin that has a number of large biomedical companies chomping at the bit.

Dayton-based Dermsurg Scientific is working feverishly to fill orders for the Il Duomo, a model of a human head over which is laid Nguyen's patented, human-like system of synthetic skin, muscles, nerves, fat and cartilage.

Using an assembly team of five, the company is building models for elite clients like the Mayo Clinic, Walter Reed Hospital and Ethicon, Nguyen says. He adds that Johnson & Johnson has asked for a custom model that can be used with a new facelift device the company is planning to debut in Europe later this year.

Heady stuff for the former Ohio University medical resident who got tired of doing sutures on pigs feet.

As students and well into the residency of most dermatologists, getting a chance to to work on real human skin is rare, Nguyen says. Other synthetics are also a poor substitute for real skin, he says. He sees his product as ideal for training the next generation of dermatologists and surgeons.

"I took the last three years off," he says. "The first year I did a lot of research on the properties of the skin and got a provisional patent. But I needed more money because I was running out and couldn't sell any more of my toys."

Nguyen says he financed his patent application by selling his prized carbon-frame time trial bike, and researched and wrote the provisional patent himself because he couldn't afford a lawyer. Eventually, Dr. Thomas Olsen, a Wright State University dermatology professor who also runs the Dermatopathology Laboratory of Central States learned about his work.

"So he gave me a grant to provide me with what I needed to get this thing to where it is today."

Other help has come from the Dayton Development Coalition, which has provided funding to help Dermsurg finish demonstration units, hire employees to evolve its management team, move from its current location to its own space and develop better molds for the Il Duomo. The Coalition also provided funds to embed an entrepreneur in residents to help Nguyen develop a business plan and investment summary.

As for practicing medicine someday, Nguyen says, "that's the whole point, I want to go back. This whole thing started because of my passion for it. If I didn't have the passion for it it never would have been created. My passion is to teach and contribute something to medicine."

Source: Keoni Nguyen, DermSurg
Writer: Gene Monteith

Tremco has built a successful business by providing solutions to clients looking for more efficient buildings. Now it can point to one of its own buildings as a showcase of sustainability.

The Cleveland-based company will open its newly renovated headquarters to the public on June 17 to demonstrate a myriad of green building technologies, many of which come from its own product lines or those of sister companies.

"We've been in our headquarters building for 20 some years," explains Randy Korach, president of the RPM Building Solutions Group -- Tremco's parent company. "The building was built for single tenant in 1969 or 1970, and like many buildings of that era, it was built with a different level of technology, and many of the components were beyond their useful life. Though we were providing these products and service solutions for our clients, we weren't eating the dog food, so to speak."

Last October, Tremco began a $5-million renovation to incorporate more energy efficient roofing, fa�ade, windows and building controls, Korach says. Today, the building is a model of sustainability and is working toward LEED Gold certification.

"There are lots of extraordinary features and components," Korach says. "A truly high- performance and integrated fa�ade, new modern building controls, and fantastic sustainable and green elements, including four different roofing systems."

One of those roofing systems is a vegetative roof with 14,000 plantings and several climate zones. While not part of the building, the company also installed a 1.8 kilowatt-rated wind turbine and solar arrays on its parking canopy. For employees who decide to buy electric cars, Tremco has supplied three charging stations.

"We're going to consume about 84 percent less gas and realize a 43 percent electricity reduction. The renewables will lead significantly to that. As far as total electricity consumption we expect maybe about 12 percent can be provided by our solar and wind energy that's being co-generated here on site."

Those who attend the company's open house -- and visitors or employees any time -- will be able to learn more about the green components of the renovated building.

"We've made it a learning environment, so we've got interpretive slides throughout the property so our neighbors and employees can very quickly and easily see what features are incorporated and what they're doing and much interactive information," Korach explains.

Source: Randy Korach, Tremco
Writer: Gene Monteith

Multiple sclerosis results when axons -- an extension of brain cells -- lose an essential coating called myelin, which allows neurons to communicate with each other and other parts of the body. While there are drugs available to slow the progression of the disease -- which eventually leaves a person unable to move � there is nothing on the market that can reverse the disease by restoring cells that produce the myelin.

If a Cleveland biomedical company has its way, there soon will be. Renovo Neural, a spinoff of the Cleveland Clinic, is currently helping pharmaceutical companies test new MS drugs by providing exclusive and innovative assays that analyze the potency of promising new drugs to reverse the MS process.

The company was formed in 2008 after the Cleveland Clinic received a $3-million Ohio Third Frontier grant to commercialize Renovo Neural's innovative assays. The technology is based on discoveries by Renovo Founder Bruce Trapp, chairman of the Clinic's Department of Neurosciences, and Wendy Macklin, former staff member at the Clinic's Department of Neurosciences and now professor and chair of cell and developmental biology at the University of Colorado. Trapp is now the company's chief science officer and heads its Scientific Advisory Board.

"We have two existing parts of the company," explains Satish Medicetty, Renovo's president. "In the service part of the company, we have very highly specialized assays to test new drugs for multiple sclerosis. This is the part of the company which is receiving a lot of interest in the industry right now because those are the kind of assays that are exclusively provided by our company."

The other part of the business -- the drug development arm -- is currently taking a back seat to the services side.

"We do have some intellectual property on the drug development side, so we are either looking for some licensing opportunities or partnering opportunities, or perhaps in the future if we get more funding from the state we will pursue that on a separate level as well," Medicetty says.

Renovo has just completed its first contract with a major client in tests designed to evaluate the process of generating new myelin in an animal model. 

"The client was very happy with the study and they came back to us to exend the study," Medicetty says.  Medicetty says the animail model -- which looks at MS-like brain lesions in animals -- is unique to Renovo.

The company has grown to seven full-time and two part-time employees from its initial two. Medicetty says because of interest shown by additional pharmaceutical companies, he expects that number to grow. 

Source: Statish Medicetty, Renovo Neural
Writer: Gene Monteith

Software testing for dummies could be the title of a new Software as a Service (SaaS) product from Janova, a Columbus area start-up that could change the way web developers test their sites.

Janova, launched in September 2010, gives its customers the ability to use its cloud-based SaaS to test their web applications using plain English syntax rather than computer code, a breakthrough for such services.

This new technology allows any user, regardless of tech background, to create and automate tests for any web-based application. Until now, such tests were downloaded onto one computer at a time, taking that unit out of commission until the tests were complete. Only computer techs could perform the tests because they were written in computer code, and they were time consuming and expensive.

"The underlying advantage is English," says Jeff Lusenhop, founder and CEO. "Everybody understands it. Everybody can communicate across the team."

The other breakthrough is the reduced time required for the tests, says Lusenhop. With the old system of downloading tests, computers could be tied up for hours. Because Janova utilizes the cloud to run the tests, the time is reduced significantly.

"It's brought all of our (beta) clients improved efficiency in their testing. We can run 90 hours of tests a day in three hours and 15 minutes."

Nominated for a TechColumbus award only two months after its founding, Janova has created great excitement for its ease of use and speed. Users can access Janova from anywhere and receive detailed reports in a matter of seconds. The company has received more than 6,000 requests for a free trial of the service.

With 34 employees now, Lusenhop says he expects the company will begin aggressive hiring efforts to add 116 employees in the next three years, bringing its payroll to more than $10 million. Most of these jobs will be in sales and consulting.

Source: Jeff Lusenhopp, Janova
Writer: Val Prevish

Eyes in the sky. That's what Persistent Surveillance Systems  of Xenia provides companies and organizations.

PSS has six pilots and three Cessna aircraft on which its Hawkeye video surveillance camera is mounted and operated.

According to Ross McNutt, president of PSS, they've used their Hawkeye camera system to gather environmental data on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, provide emergency support for the Iowa National Guard during a flood, help with traffic management and security at NASCAR races and support police in several major cities, including Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Last summer, Persistent Surveillance Systems received a grant of $900,000 from the Ohio Third Frontier initiative to develop wide-area airborne surveillance technology for continuous second-by-second video monitoring of city-size areas for law enforcement and security purposes.

What PSS developed is the Hawkeye II camera system.

"Hawkeye II is a colorized higher-resolution camera with 192 million pixels," McNutt explains. "Our original Hawkeye system was 88 million pixels. The Hawkeye II camera is comparable to 600 simultaneous video cameras. It enables us to watch a five-mile by five-mile area of a major city." 

The live video is downlinked in real time to PSS analysts at the command center.

"When we're working with police departments, police officers are also in our command center and in constant contact with police dispatchers who give them information about crimes in progress, "McNutt says. PSS has assisted law enforcement organizations throughout the United States with more than 30 murder investigations since 2007.

PSS started in 2007 with four employees and now has 25.

"We're partnering with Clark State Community College and the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center for Human Systems Development to train more analysts," he says. They have 45 analysts in training and plan on hiring many of them to work on the new Hawkeye II system.

"We're very appreciative of the support of the Third Frontier program," McNutt states. "It's allowing us to grow at a much faster rate."

Source: Ross McNutt, Persistent Surveillance System
Writer: Lynne Meyer

As much as modern medicine understands about movement disorders, there's still so much science has yet to unravel about diseases that rob the body of control of over its movement, like Huntington's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.

Great Lakes NeuroTech, a new Cleveland-based spinoff from Cleveland Medical Devices Inc. (CMDI), is hoping to help change that with products that will help researchers unlock the remaining mysteries of the diseases and maybe, someday, help point the way to a cure.

The company, still based at Cleveland Medical's Euclid Avenue campus, was formed with a mandate to market and manufacture the parent company's already burgeoning clinical motor assessment and therapy systems, while focusing on the research and development of the next generation of systems.

"The way Cleveland Medical was set up, there were three divisions -- one for sleep disorder monitoring systems, one for movement disorders and another for research," says Maureen Phillips, sales and marketing manager for NeuroTech. "There were so many disciplines, it was hard for us to concentrate on any one. Being spun off allows us to focus on the work being done on movement disorders, and make an impact there."

The new company's first target is Parkinson's Disease, the degenerative disorder of the central nervous systems that results in uncontrollable tremors and, in extreme cases, tremors so prevalent its victims are unable to move at all. Already, NeuroTech products such as KinetiSense, Kinesia and Kinesia HomeView are in use at leading national research centers and clinics, helping researchers and doctors monitor signals sent from the brain to the body, and the body's reaction to those signals.

NeuroTech products, including portable and wireless monitors, allows doctors to monitor patients both in clinical settings and at home, 24 hours a day.

"They can give doctors the total picture of what patients experience on a day-to-day basis," says Phillips, adding that it also helps current treatments. "Using that information, we're not only learning more about the disease, we're able to change medications, change dosage or change when current patients take medications, depending on how their body reacts to different treatments. The ultimate goal is better and more accurate information, which will allow us to improve the quality of life, even though they're living with this disease."

Source: Maureen Phillips, Sales and Marketing Manager
Writer: Dave Malaska

For a German solar technology company, the road to Toledo -- oddly -- went through Abu Dhabi.

It was in that Middle Eastern city that Peter Fischer, who last year started a German company to specialize in solar panel supports, attended an alternative energy conference in January. Already planning to open an office in North America, Fischer was looking at California or Toronto as a possible home for his company. Then he met officials from the University of Toledo's Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, and accepted an invitation to visit northwestern Ohio.

The result was TecnoSun Solar Systems signing a one-year lease in April to locate its North American headquarters in the university's Nitschke Technology complex to take advantage of the area's strong solar technology community. Having recruited Greg Knudson, formerly the vice president of technology with the Regional Growth Partnership and director of Rocket Ventures, as the new headquarter's CEO the company is now on the fast track to get its North America operations running.

TecnoSun's contract includes an option to expand its current 1,400-square-foot office in the future and another option to extend to term of its lease by two years. The company expects to add between 20-30 high-tech jobs when operations begin. The company has already made a splash in the solar community after opening its doors in Germany last year, producing solar panel supports that react to weather conditions. Using sensors, the system moves solar panels to track the sun as it crosses the sky, keeping them in position to maximize power output. The system also moves panels to protect them from severe winds and other threatening weather.

Fischer, in committing to the Toledo solar community, is also serious about the TecnoSun's commitment to Ohio businesses, says Knudson.

"All the manufactured products used in the supports will be made in Ohio," he explains. "It will be all local content. We want to build a supply chain with local companies, and ."

Knudson is in Germany this week to finalize incorporation paperwork for the new headquarters and meet with TecnoSun's 20 German staff members. Afterwards, TecnoSun has to go through the United Laboratories certification process required for U.S. products before hiring can start and production can begin in earnest. That should be later this year, Knudson says.

Source: Greg Knudson, CEO/TecnoSun Solar USA
Writer: Dave Malaska

JibeCast was born of frustration after Mark Ford, the company's president, found few commercial solutions to the challenge of securely distributing training videos to new sales representatives of Qwasi, his previous startup.

"I found myself challenged to not sit on training calls every single day to regurgitate the same information over and over again," Ford says. "I found myself sitting on webinars doing a lot of internal activity versus helping my sales team close big deals. I started to think about how we might be able to leverage online video to basically put myself into a cloning machine so that I could distribute that training message consistently and effectively."

The result is JibeCast, a cloud-based service that allows clients to secure their video content, distribute it easily and track immediately who accesses it. Formed in Dayton last year, the company has distributed the product privately and plans a beta launch in the next few weeks.

"Video presents a unique challenge in that most companies infrastructures aren't well equipped to manage online video," Ford says. "The media streaming and encoding aspects of handling video are totally different than putting up a pdf on your website. And then properly formatting it and being able to secure it online is a challenge for most organizations.

JibeCast is targeting small to midsize businesses that either have a sales focus or heavy training component.

"We also have a focus on healthcare market, where they are constantly being mandated to comply to new government standards and they have to continually audit their employees and teams on process and procedure. So anywhere where there are process and procedure requirements for tracking and auditing are also a sweet spots," Ford says.

Ford lives outside of Philadelphia, but -- with the help of the Dayton Development Coalition and $300,000 in Ohio Third Frontier funds -- established the company in Dayton.

"Dayton provides access to affordable talent," Ford explains. We looked at Ohio, Cincinnati, Dayton, as a great hotbed for technology, and we said there's just a tremendous talent pool here and it comes at a significantly reduced cost."

Source: Mark Ford, JibeCast
Writer: Gene Monteith

Pamla Winther has spent nearly 16 years teaching teams of workers how to communicate effectively, efficiently and consistently through a method she developed while working in corporate communications and business development.

During that time she's held countless, personal small group seminars detailing her proprietary Hands On Proactive Strategy, or HOPS, method. It, in part, identifies a team's individual strengths in an effort to create and monitor processes that maximize group work.

The method maps out those processes for future use in Workplates, or work templates, that can be used for employee mentoring or work sharing.

Winther has built a successful Blue Ash-based consultancy on her method, which has been used internationally in industries as varied as dry cleaning, architecture, fast food and retail. It's been used by teams in sales, purchasing, human resources and other departments.

"This is about communication not falling through the cracks." Winther explained. "People flap their jaws all day long, what this does is document the key elements of each conversation," and turn them into action.

Winther took her consultancy to the high tech level with investment from Queen City Angles in 2004. That's when she launched HOPS Technology Incorporated to create software based on her method.

"The reason I started the company wasn't because I understand all the technology, it was because every CEO I worked with said we had to get it in a software product," she said.

So that's what she did, with soft rollouts of the two versions. But with a new and improved Version 3 set to debut in the next few weeks, Witham is planning a larger roll out.

The web-based software was developed locally by IntelliTree Solutions and is being hosted by 3Z.net, in Covington.

"Version three is what we are going to blast off with," she said.


Source: Pamla Winther
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication, Soapbox.

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites