Lewiston, ME (PRWEB)
Many communities lament the exodus of youth, jobs and entrepreneurial talent. One Maine community is doing something about it. Two local business organizations, the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council (LAEGC) and the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce have teamed up to send a message loud and clear: the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine welcome young, creative entrepreneurs - particularly youth who have roots in the community but who have moved away. To back up that sentiment, a number of local companies have stepped forward to contribute what is expected to be over $100,000 in cash and in-kind services to the most promising start-up company willing to come back home and set up business.
The LAEGC and the Chamber of Commerce have launched an entrepreneurial contest that has an ambitious goal of connecting with youth who have roots in the local community, and encouraging them to consider starting a business in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine. The program, called Launch L-A!, features a contest inviting young entrepreneurs to submit a proposal to start a business in L-A. Entries will be screened by a committee of business and banking professionals who will judge the ideas on a number of criteria including creativity, viability, and community need. Adding a page from the "American Idol" script, finalists will be voted upon electronically by community members of Lewiston and Auburn in January 2011.
The winning entrepreneur will receive an equity infusion of $10,000 - $20,000 seed money, along with a number of in-kind services for a year, including business consulting, accounting services, legal fees, advertising agency services, rent, and more -- all provided by Chamber members. Runners-up may also receive in-kind services.
Three local Maine banks, Bangor Savings Bank, Northeast Bank and Auburn Savings Bank have already committed $11,500 to seeding the prize package. In addition, dozens of local businesses are offering in-kind services including:
* Rinck Advertising: Branding, Creative and Public Relations Package - $15,000
* Curry Printing: Printing Package - $1,200
* Next Level Business Coaching: Business Consulting - $3,600
* LAEGC: Start-up office space, conference room space & receptionist - $4,000
* Robustelli, Soucy & Hussey, PA: Accounting services - $10,000
* Brann & Isaacson: Legal fees for a year - $2,500
* Core Zero Creative: Search Engine Optimization, web and social media marketing strategy - $1,500
* Oxford Networks: Internet/Phone lines - $1,900
* WGME-13: Advertising package, including cost of production - $2,000
* Leighton Images: Video Production -- $4,500
* Mainely Portrait Photography: Photo session - $500
* Strategic Talent Management: Personality Aptitude Testing - $2,500
* Chamber of Commerce: Membership, Advertising, and Support Package - $500
* RE-Group! Business Solutions: Risk Mitigation and Business Infrastructure - $1,000
* Sun Journal: 1 year's worth of advertising and consulting - $5,000
* Marriott Residence Inn: One-week stay - $1,000
The competition is open people between the ages of 18-30 who have roots in Androscoggin County but have not lived here in at least 9-months. Applicants will be encouraged to support their idea using digital applications such as video presentations, web sites, podcasts, and digital photos.
"The value of this program is not merely that a few entrepreneurs will get assistance to launch a business in Lewiston-Auburn," says Paul Badeau, Marketing Director, Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council. "What's perhaps more important is the message this sends to the world outside of L-A's borders: namely, that Lewiston-Auburn welcomes young, creative entrepreneurs and is committed to helping them succeed."
"The contest is part of a broader initiative to connect and keep in touch with young people, particularly college grad "expatriates" who have graduated from local high schools," says Wendy Tardif, a member of the event planning committee and Executive Director for The Dempsey Challenge. "Using e-mail and social media like Facebook and Twitter, young people will get regular updates about the community's ongoing renaissance."
"Native sons and daughters often leave for college and don't return, sometimes because they don't perceive that gainful employment or opportunities can be found in Maine," explains Laura Davis, a partner at Rinck Advertising who is also a member of the committee. "We hope people follow this story chapter by chapter."
Rinck Advertising, an Auburn-based advertising and public relations agency, has contributed its services in-kind to developing the logo and PR strategies for the effort. In addition, the agency will donate over $15,000 in services to the winning business.
"We have what young people are looking for right here in L-A: urban life, arts and culture, affordable housing, a riverfront, plenty of good restaurants, and talented people," says Davis. "What we don't have is enough recognition for our assets, and enough help for struggling entrepreneurs."
"Even if young people don't return to the community for whatever reason, it is still important that they feel proud of their community in order to serve as ambassadors, stay connected to local institutions, and serve as future benefactors for local institutions", says Chamber President, Chip Morrison.
"Will our youth return in droves because of this? Probably not," adds Morrison. "But if we can help a few entrepreneurs get off the ground, and get young people with roots in the L/A area to feel proud of their home community, we will have been wildly successful."
T.H. Creations, a Lewiston-based web site development company, created a web site to promote the contest. Entrepreneurs can enter the contest with their business idea right online at: http://www.launchlamaine.com. Contestants and interested parties can also follow the contest on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/LaunchLAMaine or Twitter at https://twitter.com/LaunchLAMaine. Launch LA is also offering a chance to win an Apple iPAD for anyone who helps spread the word through Twitter. Details at Launch LA Maine.
Companies interested in finding out more about the contest and how they can be a part of it should contact the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council at 207-784-0161 or the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce at 207-783-2249.
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Showing posts with label Colorado Business News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colorado Business News. Show all posts
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Two new websites for Colorado Truckers
Press Release
Get Loaded
Two new websites have been launched that Cargo, Freight and Courier companies and their customers in Colorado and other U.S. States can use Free of Charge.
The sites have been specifically designed and developed over a 2 year period to help all types of road-load carriers and their customers meet on a common platform where each can list their load-space availability or requirements. The potential for site users to reduce costs and increase profit cannot be underestimated and many will see the services the sites offer as a means towards achieving greater efficiencies.
With so much focus on the Carbon Footprint it may not be too long before the freight industry comes under the spotlight even more and is forced down the road into re-thinking journey planning and load organization in order to minimize the transportation of too much ‘fresh air . Whilst road-load carriers continue to face spiraling costs in terms of higher fuel, insurance, tax and vehicle maintenance costs leading to even greater erosion of already tight margins, their customers continue to expect competitive pricing. The sites are:
www.freightexx.com
www.globalfreightfinder.com
Comments Steve Rowlands who designed and launched the sites; Working in the field of Project Management I had opportunities to fully understand the plight of the road haulage industry and quickly realized how competitive it is whilst appreciating the never-ending search it has to fill load-space. Anyone travelling by road anywhere in the world can’t help but notice haulage vehicles that are empty or only part-loaded; in essence carrying ‘fresh air’ that has to be paid for with fuel that continues to increase in cost which can be crippling in terms of over-inflated operating costs. With some road-haulage vehicles at best achieving only 5-9 miles per gallon, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize how much it was costing the carrier to haul space and realized that I had to do something to support the industry and it’s customers. The rest is history and the sites were born.
I encourage everyone reading this article who has any load-space available to sell or is looking for space to ship single or multiple consignments no matter how big or small, to list their details on the sites for all to see. While www.freightexx.com is the road-load search site that’s driven by it’s members, I’m hoping that both sites will be well received and used for the benefit of all.
Get Loaded
Two new websites have been launched that Cargo, Freight and Courier companies and their customers in Colorado and other U.S. States can use Free of Charge.
The sites have been specifically designed and developed over a 2 year period to help all types of road-load carriers and their customers meet on a common platform where each can list their load-space availability or requirements. The potential for site users to reduce costs and increase profit cannot be underestimated and many will see the services the sites offer as a means towards achieving greater efficiencies.
With so much focus on the Carbon Footprint it may not be too long before the freight industry comes under the spotlight even more and is forced down the road into re-thinking journey planning and load organization in order to minimize the transportation of too much ‘fresh air . Whilst road-load carriers continue to face spiraling costs in terms of higher fuel, insurance, tax and vehicle maintenance costs leading to even greater erosion of already tight margins, their customers continue to expect competitive pricing. The sites are:
www.freightexx.com
www.globalfreightfinder.com
Comments Steve Rowlands who designed and launched the sites; Working in the field of Project Management I had opportunities to fully understand the plight of the road haulage industry and quickly realized how competitive it is whilst appreciating the never-ending search it has to fill load-space. Anyone travelling by road anywhere in the world can’t help but notice haulage vehicles that are empty or only part-loaded; in essence carrying ‘fresh air’ that has to be paid for with fuel that continues to increase in cost which can be crippling in terms of over-inflated operating costs. With some road-haulage vehicles at best achieving only 5-9 miles per gallon, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize how much it was costing the carrier to haul space and realized that I had to do something to support the industry and it’s customers. The rest is history and the sites were born.
I encourage everyone reading this article who has any load-space available to sell or is looking for space to ship single or multiple consignments no matter how big or small, to list their details on the sites for all to see. While www.freightexx.com is the road-load search site that’s driven by it’s members, I’m hoping that both sites will be well received and used for the benefit of all.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
ADTI Launches SkyNet™, a Revolutionary Digital Display
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advance Display Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: ADTI) announced the introduction of SkyNet™, a revolutionary, flexible, outdoor digital display product developed, manufactured and sold by ADTI.
Matthew W. Shankle, the President and CEO of ADTI, stated, “I am very excited with SkyNet™’s prospects and the impact it will have on the large format signage markets. I expect this revolutionary digital display technology will significantly alter the market for the large format, outdoor advertising, entertainment, sporting venue and architectural lighting industries.”
SkyNet™ is a brand new medium for the direct delivery of digitally created signage, video content and architectural illumination on a physical scale previously unimaginable. Utilizing the latest high intensity Light Emitting Diode (LED) components, SkyNet™ creates a full palette of colors viewable in full direct sunlight. SkyNet™’s proprietary lightweight LED mesh technology flexibly wraps the corners of buildings and easily scales up to wrap an entire high-rise building with video and graphics. ADTI’s SkyNet™ product theoretically has no size limitations.
Jody Thomas, ADTI’s EVP of Sales & Marketing, added, “ADTI’s proprietary SkyNet™ product is highly suited to enable massive visual display applications never before envisioned. With SkyNet™’s flexible structure, innovative transparency, negligible weight, stunning video/graphics performance, and redundant systems architecture, ADTI’s entire management team is very proud to have put SkyNet™ in position to serve both existing digital display markets and enable entirely new markets to develop using this product. SkyNet™’s value proposition also includes excellent cost of ownership savings and attractive ROI’s for our customers as operating downtime is minimized with this revolutionary digital display product.”
SkyNet™’s 60% transparency and thickness of only 3 centimeters allows natural light and ventilation to pass through SkyNet™ thereby addressing the architectural requirements of structures with windows or structures requiring air circulation. The highly modular redundant system architecture of SkyNet™ allows its components to be easily assembled in the factory and serviced in the field.
Matt Shankle added, “SkyNet™ digital displays can be built to any height and any width creating a display specifically sized to suit the desired building, structure, framework or other display surface. Traditional “fixed-frame” outdoor digital displays require heavy obtrusive cabinets to conceal power supplies, controls, cabling and provide structure. With our new design, all SkyNet™ components are either part of the lightweight semi-transparent mesh structure or they are concealed in small power control enclosures at the top or bottom of the display. These power control enclosures may alternately be located remotely in convenient visually discrete locations. SkyNet™’s 60% open mesh structure also minimizes wind loading, a very serious structural loading consideration for outdoor signage installations of all types.”
SkyNet™ additional design features include:
* Designed to withstand temperature extremes and operate at full luminous intensity at up to 115 ° Fahrenheit, neither the coldest of winter climates nor the hottest of desert climates are a challenge for SkyNet™.
* Fully moisture-proof; SkyNet™ can withstand driving rain, heavy snow, icing, condensation, and even pressure washing!
* Redundant power and signal distribution architectures enable fully, remote programming, remote control, remote diagnostics and remote proof of play authentication.
* Multi redundant systems architecture makes truck rolls for emergency or scheduled servicing highly infrequent.
ADTI’s EVP of Manufacturing, Jim Martindale, who managed the SkyNet™ product’s research & development program, stated, “SkyNet™ has been designed from the ground up to withstand the extreme environmental conditions of outdoor installations from New York City to Las Vegas or even Dubai to Oslo. Heat, cold and precipitation challenges are easily met by SkyNet™’s proprietary design attributes. This product is purposefully designed for the serious digital display owner who expects a good ROI and knows the true value of controlling ownership costs over time. ADTI has invested heavily in designing the SkyNet™ product to be affordable, durable, reliable and virtually maintenance free. These are the design attributes ADTI’s SkyNet™ customers can expect from this revolutionary digital display product.”
Advance Display Technologies, Inc. (ADTI) is engaged in the business of developing, manufacturing, and selling proprietary outdoor digital display products for the outdoor advertising, entertainment, sporting venue, and architectural lighting markets. ADTI was originally formed to develop and manufacture fiber optic display screen systems and, since December 2004, ADTI has also engaged in the business of the technological development and manufacture of proprietary Light Emitting Diode (LED) display screen systems. ADTI is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado with additional Company operations in New York City, New Jersey, North Carolina and Southern California.
For more information regarding ADTI and the SkyNet™ product see the Company’s web site at http://www.adtimedia.com or email to info@adtimedia.com.
Matthew W. Shankle, the President and CEO of ADTI, stated, “I am very excited with SkyNet™’s prospects and the impact it will have on the large format signage markets. I expect this revolutionary digital display technology will significantly alter the market for the large format, outdoor advertising, entertainment, sporting venue and architectural lighting industries.”
SkyNet™ is a brand new medium for the direct delivery of digitally created signage, video content and architectural illumination on a physical scale previously unimaginable. Utilizing the latest high intensity Light Emitting Diode (LED) components, SkyNet™ creates a full palette of colors viewable in full direct sunlight. SkyNet™’s proprietary lightweight LED mesh technology flexibly wraps the corners of buildings and easily scales up to wrap an entire high-rise building with video and graphics. ADTI’s SkyNet™ product theoretically has no size limitations.
Jody Thomas, ADTI’s EVP of Sales & Marketing, added, “ADTI’s proprietary SkyNet™ product is highly suited to enable massive visual display applications never before envisioned. With SkyNet™’s flexible structure, innovative transparency, negligible weight, stunning video/graphics performance, and redundant systems architecture, ADTI’s entire management team is very proud to have put SkyNet™ in position to serve both existing digital display markets and enable entirely new markets to develop using this product. SkyNet™’s value proposition also includes excellent cost of ownership savings and attractive ROI’s for our customers as operating downtime is minimized with this revolutionary digital display product.”
SkyNet™’s 60% transparency and thickness of only 3 centimeters allows natural light and ventilation to pass through SkyNet™ thereby addressing the architectural requirements of structures with windows or structures requiring air circulation. The highly modular redundant system architecture of SkyNet™ allows its components to be easily assembled in the factory and serviced in the field.
Matt Shankle added, “SkyNet™ digital displays can be built to any height and any width creating a display specifically sized to suit the desired building, structure, framework or other display surface. Traditional “fixed-frame” outdoor digital displays require heavy obtrusive cabinets to conceal power supplies, controls, cabling and provide structure. With our new design, all SkyNet™ components are either part of the lightweight semi-transparent mesh structure or they are concealed in small power control enclosures at the top or bottom of the display. These power control enclosures may alternately be located remotely in convenient visually discrete locations. SkyNet™’s 60% open mesh structure also minimizes wind loading, a very serious structural loading consideration for outdoor signage installations of all types.”
SkyNet™ additional design features include:
* Designed to withstand temperature extremes and operate at full luminous intensity at up to 115 ° Fahrenheit, neither the coldest of winter climates nor the hottest of desert climates are a challenge for SkyNet™.
* Fully moisture-proof; SkyNet™ can withstand driving rain, heavy snow, icing, condensation, and even pressure washing!
* Redundant power and signal distribution architectures enable fully, remote programming, remote control, remote diagnostics and remote proof of play authentication.
* Multi redundant systems architecture makes truck rolls for emergency or scheduled servicing highly infrequent.
ADTI’s EVP of Manufacturing, Jim Martindale, who managed the SkyNet™ product’s research & development program, stated, “SkyNet™ has been designed from the ground up to withstand the extreme environmental conditions of outdoor installations from New York City to Las Vegas or even Dubai to Oslo. Heat, cold and precipitation challenges are easily met by SkyNet™’s proprietary design attributes. This product is purposefully designed for the serious digital display owner who expects a good ROI and knows the true value of controlling ownership costs over time. ADTI has invested heavily in designing the SkyNet™ product to be affordable, durable, reliable and virtually maintenance free. These are the design attributes ADTI’s SkyNet™ customers can expect from this revolutionary digital display product.”
Advance Display Technologies, Inc. (ADTI) is engaged in the business of developing, manufacturing, and selling proprietary outdoor digital display products for the outdoor advertising, entertainment, sporting venue, and architectural lighting markets. ADTI was originally formed to develop and manufacture fiber optic display screen systems and, since December 2004, ADTI has also engaged in the business of the technological development and manufacture of proprietary Light Emitting Diode (LED) display screen systems. ADTI is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado with additional Company operations in New York City, New Jersey, North Carolina and Southern California.
For more information regarding ADTI and the SkyNet™ product see the Company’s web site at http://www.adtimedia.com or email to info@adtimedia.com.
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