Build Boston Convention, Trade Show

Build Boston, the largest regional convention and tradeshow for the design and construction industry, celebrates its 25th anniversary with more than 250 exhibits and 200 workshops, tours and other professional development and networking events.

To market your business or attend the AEC industry’s annual gathering in New England, Nov. 18 to 20, at the Seaport World Trade Center, call (800) 996-3863 or e-mail rvendola@tradeshowmgmt.com.

Build Boston is sponsored by the Boston Society of Architects/AIA.

More than 10,000 building industry professionals from 43 states and 19 countries attended last year’s event.

View the show information online, download the full conference program or request a hard-copy brochure at www.buildboston.com.

Reveal Imaging Tech Awarded Airport Contract

Reveal Imaging Technologies has signed a $3.9 million contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for developing an enhanced personnel inspection system for U.S. airports.

The technology will combine multiple sensors with automated detection technology.

To develop the screening system, the company will use a combination of broadband acoustic sensors and broadband active millimeter wave sensors.

The company corporate headquarters is located in Bedford, Mass.

Michael Ellenbogen is president CEO, and co-founder. Prior to Reveal, he served as vice president of product and business development for PerkinElmer Detection Systems where he oversaw the R&D, engineering and marketing efforts.

Dr. Richard Bijjani is chief technology officer, and has been a thought leader in security technology for nearly 20 years. In 1990, he managed R&D during the development of a dynamic signature verification product at Kumahira Inc., one of the very first biometrics products in the industry. Bijjani has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Solar Thermal Incentive Program

Some $4 million in federal stimulus funds is earmarked to help homeowners and businesses pay for the installation of solar-powered hot water heating systems, an investment that will lower utility bills and promote the use of alternative fuels.

The new Solar Thermal Incentive Program is part of the comprehensive State Energy Plan that has qualified for $38 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The plan includes programs that: Provide incentives to use alternative energy in homes and businesses; expand fuel cell initiatives; make state buildings more energy efficient; create green collar jobs needed for emerging technologies.

The incentive program will be administered by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), a ratepayer fund that promotes, develops and invests in clean energy resources for the benefit of Connecticut’s electric rate payers. CCEF officials say there is enough funding available to support installations of 600 residential solar heating systems and about 120 non-residential systems. The systems can supply up to 80 percent of a customer’s annual hot water needs.

For information visit www.ctcleanenergy.com/solarthermal, call (860)563-0015 or e-mail solarthermal@ctcleanenergy.com.
To view the State Energy Plan and for more information on the ARRA in Connecticut, visit www.ct.gov and click on the CT Recovery link.

Arthur On Nanotechnology Commercialization

SouthWest NanoTechnologies Inc. CEO Dave Arthur will speak at the 2009 NanoBusiness Conference on Tuesday, Sept. 8 in Chicago.

"From Nanotechnology to NanoBusiness: Commercializing Carbon Nanotubes" will be presented at the Chicago Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, 10:45 a.m.

The company recently secured a $3 million investment from Insight Technology Capital Partners, LP, a growth capital fund based in Troy, Michigan.

Arthur is a leading expert in the field of carbon nanotubes, and is president and co-founder of Chasm Technologies in Canton, Mass., a company that helps clients commercialize new products using novel nanomaterials.

Arthur holds an MBA from Northeastern University, and a masters from the University of Connecticut and a BS in chemical engineering from Tufts University.

With presentations by more than 140 speakers over three days, NanoBusiness 2009 will feature conference tracks on a wide range of topics. For more information see www.nanobusiness2009.com/index.php/program.

The Business of Baseball

Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees, will speak at Southern Connecticut State University, Wednesday, April 22.

ESPN sports reporter Peter Gammons will also be on hand to discuss "The Yankees and the Business of Baseball" at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts.

Cashman began as a 19-year-old intern in 1986 working for the Yankees' scouting department, and in 1998, rose to become the second youngest general manager in baseball history at age 31.

During the last 11 years, the team has won three World Series championships, five American League titles and nine AL East crowns.
Tickets are $23; $10 for students and children. They may be purchased at the Lyman box office: (203) 392-6154, or at http://tickets.southernct.edu.

A premium seating and reception package is also available for $125 per person. (Purchase includes private reception, premium seating, photo opportunity with Cashman and an autographed book.) Contact Betsy Galian at (203) 392-5598 for information or to purchase the "Friends" premium package. To purchase the premium package online, visit http://dlspremium.southernct.edu/

A portion of the proceeds support Southern's Endowed Awards of Excellence, a merit-based scholarship program.

Image courtesy SCSU.

Pilots love to fly. Rescue groups devote their lives to save animals. What do they have in common? Until recently, only the bone-deep passion and commitment to what they love.

That is, until the brainstorm of Debi Boies of South Carolina and Jon Wehrenberg of Knoxville, Tenn., co-founders of Pilots N Paws.

Complete story, follow this link.

Tax Incentive Grows Film, Digital Media

Film industry production tax incentives in nearby states versus Connecticut?

Connecticut passed a 30 percent film and digital media tax credit (which took effect in July 2006); New York, 30 percent (35 for productions in New York City); Massachusetts, 25 percent; Rhode Island, 25 percent (for projects more than $300,000), according to a report by New England Film. (The Screen Actors Guild offers a listing of all states and incentives offered in alphabetical order.)

A new private-sector group, Connecticut Production Coalition’s (CPC), supports the state tax incentive and wants to continue to build the "film, television and digital media sector" industry.

CPC founders: Howard and Karen Baldwin, Baldwin Entertainment Group; Chris Campbell, Palace Digital Studios; Tom Carruthers, Connecticut Film Festival; Ephraim Cohen, The Fortex Group; Brandon Curiel, Venan Entertainment, Inc.; Donna Elkinson, Elkinson + Sloves, Inc.; A. Searle Field, United Studios of America; Andrew Gernhard, Synthetic Cinema International; Bruce Heller, Connecticut Film Center; Mike Kuhar, VisualEFX; John Lanza, Kostin, Ruffkess & Co, LLC; Fred Litty, Sonalysts Media Group; Al Maiorano, Televersemedia; Mark Osora, Sheptoff, Reuber & Co, P.C.; Kevin Segalla, Connecticut Film Center; Jeff Taylor, Elements Post; Neal Thomassen, Annual Film Industry Mixer; and Ron Wishna, RM Studios, LLC.

“Connecticut is searching for ways to generate jobs, strengthen the economy and lessen its dependence on the crippled financial sector,” said Chris Campbell, owner of Palace Digital Studio and one of the 19 CPC founders. “As one of the few growing industries in the state, film and digital media are key to that effort."

In two years, according to a CPC news release, "91 film, TV and digital media productions have brought more than $600 million in direct investment to Connecticut, resulting in an estimated $1.5 billion in new economic activity . . . some 80,000 hotel rooms, permits, rented homes, buildings and parking lots from property owners; spending at hardware stores, printing shops, coffee shops, restaurants, dry cleaners, lumber yards, car rental agencies and many other community businesses."

The tax credit helped attract Blue Sky Studios (digital animation and creators of the movie Ice Age) to move to Greenwich, bringing along more than 300 jobs. Films shot in Connecticut include Revolutionary Road and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

For an independent network for the industry see New England Film at www.newenglandfilm.com.

Change Constant in Business

Winds of change are blowing in one town center in Connecticut. Two vacancies in a village along the Connecticut River may create opportunity for another business . . . or two. And a long-time business stands out as a community resource. See full story, here.

Parker Brothers Shotguns, Meriden, Connecticut

Legends were born in Meriden, Connecticut. One such story is Parker Brothers Shotguns, known and avidly collected around the world.

Recently the "Czar Parker gun" sold for $287,500 at James Julia Auction in Maine.

Related advertisements, catalogues, and related memorabilia are being sought by a corporate business. For details, e-mail the editor.

"Make Fear Fly in Formation" - Bounce

Test pilot Chuck Yeager did it. So did First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. (Or more recently, pop music diva Britany Spears.) "You must do the thing you think you cannot," said Roosevelt, who overcame obstacles with determination. (Yeager broke the sound barrier flying the X-1 with busted-up ribs after a fall from a horse.)

Barry Moltz knows about facing the ups and downs. He is "crazy about business." He's founded and run businesses with a "great deal of success and failure for more than 15 years" - appears regularly on national talk shows, sharing his wealth of experiences in a lively style. Now he's captured the pithy experiences in his book Bounce: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success.

Topics shed light on the cyclical nature of work and life - there are highs, there are lows. A bottoming-out is but an opportunity to "make fear fly in formation." Bounce reads like a conversation with a good coach - and it is.

And Moltz knows his stuff. He's been fired. Had to fire people himself. Succeeded. Failed. Founded an angel investor group, an angel fund, and is a former advisor to the Board of the Angel Capital Education Foundation. He now is a business consultant, author, acclaimed speaker. (He's even appeared as a speaker avatar on virtual reality site Second Life.

As Moltz says, "of all the wild places I have been in the world, from New York to New Zealand, there is never a ride that can compare to the one business can provide."

CNBC Talk show host Donny Deutsch and Barry Moltz.


Yeager photo from the Academy of Achievement, which also features an interview about the day he flew through the sound barrier.

Snow Cupcake

Snow. Big business for all those who shovel, plow, heat, commute. Tow truck drivers and mechanics too. Photo by Marie Castano, multimedia artist and photographer.

That American Ingenuity? It Works

Things of beauty and quality last.

Etsy is an online marketplace "to buy and sell all things handmade." It's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inc., BusinessWeek, on CNN and The Martha Stewart Show

Artists and creators of nearly every stripe post images of their wares and buyers can search by color, description, browse, or even post a query for a one-of-a-kind creation that exists only in their mind.

Read about "This Handmade Life" - vignettes about the people driven to create and their environments, learn about people who live and work near where you live (there is a search option to shop local), or enjoy the beauty.

Take a look at the work of artist Nancy LaBerge Muren, who states in her profile "Light is life! There is no greater element in a painting than the light that illuminates it and defines it."

Found during an online search using the terms "horse, painting" (potential gift for a colleague), her work stands out - there is currently one print available with an equine theme.

The print is one of 150 and she describes the day as the "sun was glorious, the horse was magnificent and his owner was so proud as they got ready to perform, I call this one 'Warming Up to Show'" - available to order online.

Etsy is a business model that serves a growing market. Artists and artisans can enter the digital visual feast to find customers around the world - and encourages entrepreneurial artists and designers - wherever they create.

Such as Richmond Castano Sr., co-founder of Twin Leather, who makes bird toys. At 96, the ever-creative entrepreneur is considering Etsy as an additional venture to feature his toys, which feature colorful knobs and fruit-like growths, very much like three-dimensional art. Castano manufactures components such as leather “twisters” - a curly ribbon of vegetable-tanned leather that appeals to parrots.

From the site: The concept was conceived by Rob Kalin in 2005. A painter, carpenter, and photographer, Rob found there was no viable marketplace to exhibit and sell his creations online - other e-commerce sites having become too inundated with overstock electronics and broken appliances. Ever industrious, he, along with Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik, designed the site, wrote the code, assembled the servers, spliced the cables, and launched Etsy on June 18, 2005 after only three sleepless months.

(Jockey and horse, from Mountain Brook storefront, on Etsy.)



Quick View: Etsy Stats
Total Members: more than 1.5 million
Total Sellers: more than 200,000

Items Currently Listed: more than 2.8 million

Total $ sold (Gross Merchandise Sales)
2005 = $166,000
2006 = $3.8 million
2007 = $26 million
2008 = $87 million (Full Year Forecast)