Huntsville Business Journal September 2018

Keeping you informed and inspired.

VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 3

September 2018

TECHNOLOGY

COVER STORY

Annual Small Business Awards Honor “Backbone of the Economy”

Huntsville’s Connection to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe

Now that the historic Parker Solar Probe is charging toward the Earth’s sun, scientists are ready to use it to answer decades old mysteries about its core, surface and atmosphere.

Wendy Reeves • Pg 6

ENTERTAINMENT

VBC’s Groundbreaking: For the Love of Live Music

Page 8

Construction will soon be underway for the new Von Braun Center music hall.

Lori J. Connors • Pg 7

ADDITIONAL STORIES • Hand-Crafted Daily: Puerto Rican Cuisine

by Wendy Reeves • P10 • Successful Brands and Logos Stand Up and Say ‘Yay!’

by Kimberly Ballard • P12

• United Way of Madison County: 75 years of Community Caring

by Lori J. Connors • P13

• Business Briefcase

by Bud McLughlin • P15

Online

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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

ECONOMIC Rebirth on the Southside of HUNTSVILLE Now that the overpasses are complete and with the final touches being made to the South Memorial Parkway service roads being applied, it’s time for an economic rebirth in South Huntsville.

Helping lead the way is the South Huntsville Business Association.

This organization has been around for the last couple years to provide a unified voice for merchants and business owners on the southern end of town.

The SHBA was particularly instrumental in helping the Alabama Department of Transportation during the design and construction of the South Parkway overpasses.

President Jerry Cargile and the organization provided the area with updates from ALDOT as the project continued. The updates included intersection closings, girder movement and other disruptions to the “normal” traffic flow.

ALDOT, through spokesman Seth Burkett, kept the residents and businesses informed. Also, some construction work was scheduled

to help avoid adverse effects to the business community.

In a welcome boost for the economic resurgence, South Huntsville received a Main Street Alabama designation. This program took input from residents and merchants and, along with its own research and visits, Main Street staff will take the information to help create a brand and help the economic vitality of the area.

SHBA also named Bekah Schmidt as its first executive director. She will be responsible for helping lead the organization and business community, along with volunteers, as they follow the guidelines set by Main Street Alabama.

Among the much-anticipated developments, Haysland Square will become a focal point of the community and changes there are expected to begin early next year.

The mall is on property owned by Huntsville’s Hays family and was leased to Aronov of Montgomery for the past several years. The family was finally able to “buy its own land back” and has a great vision for the area.

The nearly deserted shopping center

(Staples is the lone, but popular, tenant) will be part of a redevelopment campaign that will include a multi-use development and an increase in housing. An extension from Weatherly will wind past Grissom High School and connect with Redstone Road, opening the area for new development.

But, that’s not the only area that will see changes.

The South Huntsville community designation extends essentially from Golf Road to the Tennessee River.

In that expanse, there will be new looks along the parkway and the river, including Ditto Landing and the waterside east and west of the parkway and even across the river in Huntsville-annexed Morgan County.

So, while the last couple of years were not the best time to visit or drive to/through South Huntsville, the next couple years will be a welcome change.

(Bud McLaughlin is editor of the Huntsville Business Journal. He can be heard Wednesdays at 6:30 a.m. with Fred Holland on WTKI AM 1450 and 105.3 FM.) n

Subsidiary of EVENT Publishing Publisher/President ……… Todd Stephenson Editor …………………………Bud McLaughlin Writers……………………… Kimberly Ballard

Lori J. Connors

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September 2018

TRANSPORTATION

Relief!

Ribbon is Cut for the South Memorial Parkway Overpasses

By Bud McLaughlin Photography by Steve Babin

After 2 1/2 years of stop-and-go at a snail’s pace, traffic is flowing once again over South Memorial Parkway.

Overpasses at Byrd Spring and Lily Flagg roads were opened in August to the pleasure of thousands of motorists, merchants and residents, alike.

“We’re happy today to be able to open this stretch of South Memorial Parkway,” said Tommy Harris of the Alabama Department of Transportation, that came in a year ahead of schedule.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held atop the Byrd Spring Road overpass and it was attended by Gov. Kaye Ivey, Mayor Tommy Battle and other state and local officials. And it also enables the city to “keep the magic 18-minute commute,” Battle said.

“This is the largest project in the city of Huntsville, totaling $250 million,” Ivey said. “When we work together, we can make infrastructure and economic improvements.”

Battle also recognized the teamwork among state and local governments.

“This road system is probably the best example of governments working together,” he said. “This effort enables our community to grow. This is a great day for our city.”

The final touches to service roads should be complete by the end of September and a grand-reopening celebration is planned for early October. n

“This effort enables our community to grow…

This is a great day for our city,” said Mayor Battle.

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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

SMALL BUSINESS

RAPID GROWTH SPURS

LSINC to Purchase Building in CRP

Less than a year from a ribbon-cutting ceremony when it moved into Cummings Research Park, LSINC has now changed addresses with the purchase of its own building elsewhere in the park.

The time of rapid growth necessitated the purchase for the Huntsville-based company. It will allow LSINC to better serve current customers, as well as allow for planned, targeted expansion into new markets.

“Purchasing a building is our commitment to our customers, employees, and the community,” said CEO Alicia Ryan. “We now have significantly more space and that will allow us to work multiple product-development projects for our clients and more easily accommodate our customers’ propriety and classified projects.

“The timing is wonderful, too, as we’ve recently begun work on our own research and design initiatives, and we now have more room to develop LSINCbranded products.”

The company’s new location is a 51,300 square-foot facility at 490 Discovery Drive. It includes 36,000 square feet of laboratory and manufacturing space with a loading dock and two drive-in doors. Assisting LSINC in site-selection were Binswanger Management and Samples Properties. Fuqua and Partners Architects is assisting with the remodeling and design.

The building will feature a specially designed innovation space with a collaborative environment for creative meetings with clients when launching the design phase of the product development process.

“By integrating our strategy approach with the product development process, we help clients think through all the possibilities and markets for how a product can be used prior to starting the design phase,” said company President Robert Lightfoot. “Our Strategy Assurance approach results in products that are engineered for the right solutions.”

The innovation space also will be used for internal R&D meetings for LSINC-branded products. n

September 2018

RETAIL

TIMES PLAZA to Join South Parkway Shopping Landscape

By Bud McLaughlin

Chances are, if you drive along South Memorial Parkway between Bob Wallace Avenue and Governors Drive, you’ve noticed a solitary concrete tower rising about three stories above the ground.

And, nearby, steelwork is going up several yards to the north.

The tower is a stairwell/elevator forTimes Plaza, a mixed-use development at the site of the former Huntsville Times building at 2317 South Memorial Parkway. It is expected to open for business next May. The development will include a mix of restaurants, boutiques, retail stores and offices.

The first tenant will be announced in the coming weeks by Crunkleton Commercial Real Estate Group at https://crunkletonblog.wordpress.com/. The architect is Matheny Goldmon (www.mathenygoldmon.com); and Robins & Morton (www.robinsmorton.com) is the general contractor. n

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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

TECHNOLOGY

Huntsville’s Connection to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe

the solar atmosphere during the probe’s encounters into the sun’s atmosphere over the next seven years. In includes a small instrument that will look around the protective heat shield of the spacecraft directly at the sun. This will allow SWEAP to sweep up a sample of the atmosphere and touch the sun for the first time.

“As fascinating and enjoyable as it is to develop theories and models, unless they’re tested and hopefully validated against observations, it’s about as useful as staring at one’s navel,” Zank said. “So, spacecraft observations are key to ensuring that we can develop testable, quantitative models and theories of the physical phenomena or processes that interest us.”

He said the origin of the solar wind, the high-speed (350 to 800 km/s) flow of charged particles from the solar surface, remains perhaps the outstanding unexplained problem in space physics today. The PSP was built in large part to answer that fundamental question, and basically clear up the mystery that has faced scientists since the start of the space age.

“The Parker Solar Probe is a billion dollar mission so certainly one of the largest heliophysics missions ever flown, and by extension, one of the biggest and most important projects in which CSPAR is involved,” Zank said.

In addition to SWEAP, the other investigations include: • The Fields Experiment will measure electric and magnetic fields, radio emissions and shock waves in the sun’s atmospheric plasma.

• The Integrated Science Investigation of the sun uses two instruments to monitor electrons, protons and ions in the sun’s atmosphere.

• The Wide-field Imager is a telescope that will make images of the sun’s corona to see the solar wind, clouds and shock waves as they pass by the spacecraft.

By Wendy Reeves Now that the historic Parker Solar Probe is charging toward the Earth’s sun, scientists are ready to use it to answer decades old mysteries about its core, surface and atmosphere.

“This mission has been the dream of scientists since the beginning of the space age,” says Dr. Gary Zank, director, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. “To see it finally happening is intensely satisfying. Like all great missions, however, we will learn more than ever imagined and yet will be left wanting to know even more.”

Since the probe launched Aug. 12, the spacecraft and its instruments are going through commissioning to ensure that everything works as designed and planned, Zank says.

“This takes some time,” he said. “There will be a period that data is returned for a first analysis. But once everything is working, and the data begins to flow, that’s when the real mission begins — this is the discovery phase where the probe will begin to spend significant lengths of time in a part of the solar wind, this will occur even before the closest approach to the sun.”

Zank said scientists are “hoping” to see the probe’s first data possibly by the end of October or early November.

“From then on until the end of the mission, there will be a stream of papers describing, discussing, analyzing, relating to theories and models, everything that will be observed,” Zank said. “In fact, we will not have enough people working on this data set to unearth all the gems waiting to be discovered.

“This data will be used during the mission and for decades after, especially because this is a once-in-a-lifetime mission.”

UAH Role Zank, also an eminent scholar and distinguished professor at UAH, is coinvestigator on one of the spacecraft’s investigations: The Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons investigation.

That’s where CSPAR comes into play.

CSPAR and Marshall Space Flight Center formed a consortium with Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Los Alamos National Lab, University of California Space Sciences Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build the SWEAP instruments.

SWEAP instruments will directly measure the properties of the plasma in

Proving a theory?

Then there is Zank’s theories related to how the sun can be hot at its core yet stay relatively cool at its surface, while at the same time super-heating its coronal atmosphere?

“I have developed two theoretical models to explain the heating of the solar corona, which in turn will explain the origin of the solar wind,” Zank said.

Both models, he said, are based on the dissipation of low frequency magnetic turbulence, and the differences reside in certain somewhat technical characterizations of the underlying turbulence.

“Broadly speaking, they’re both turbulence models,” Zank said. “The competing model for heating the solar wind relies on high frequency waves called ion-cyclotron waves, and the damping of these waves is thought to heat the solar corona. PSP will measure directly the coronal plasma using the SWEAP instrument that I’m involved with and the magnetic fluctuations using the Fields instrument.

“The combined results from these two instruments will allow us to infer the nature of the fluctuations and so distinguish between lowfrequency turbulence-like and high-frequency wavelike modes. The amount of energy in these fluctuations can be measured as well.

From these kinds of measurements, we will be able, if life remains simple and straightforward (not always guaranteed!), we should be able to take the first steps in confirming what the basic heating mechanism is for the solar corona and hence the origin of the solar wind.” n

UAH/Michael Mercier Dr. Gary Zank (pictured right) with illustration of Parker Solar Probe nearing sun in background.

September 2018

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ENTERTAINMENT

VBC’S GROUNDBREAKING: For the Love of Live Music

By Lori J. Connors

Construction will soon be underway for the new Von Braun Center music hall.

The project is expected to take 14 months to complete and ready to rock by late fall 2019.

Located at the northeast corner of Monroe Street and Clinton Avenue, the venue boasts an open-floor plan which will accommodate 1,200 at the floor level and 200 at balcony level. Along with the music hall, there will be a 4,000 square-foot rooftop bar and a restaurant.

Even before the demise of the local nightclub/music venue Crossroads, the downtown area had been sorely lacking in midsized music venues.

Despite a variety of local bars and clubs that accommodate live music, most lack the capacity to host regional performing acts with a medium-sized following. VBC’s music hall will be 15,000 square feet with a concrete floor and no fixed seating; concerts will mainly be held before a standing audience.

According to VBC Executive Director Steve Maples, the music hall will boast a stage that will stand nearly 4 feet high, 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep.

“Our goal is to have 100 bands play here the first year we’re open,” Maples told the crowd at the groundbreaking party early in mid-August.

The architectural firm responsible for the new endeavor is Matheny Goldmon, whose projects include the Mark C. Smith Music Hall and Propst Arena renovations, Campus 805, and the Eloise McDonald Propst Guest Center at Huntsville Botanical Garden. Bailey-Harris Construction of Huntsville is general contractor. Their previous work includes Jemison High School and a residence hall at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

VBC officials see these endeavors as effective means for keeping the facility competitive as a convention destination and conference site.

Since its opening in 1975, the VBC has been a host to a wide assortment of concerts, special events, conferences and trade shows.

Its 43-year history has been one of growth. To meet increasing demands of the community, expansion projects, such as West Hall in 1980, North Hall in

Mayor Tommy Battle assists in the groundbreaking of the VBC addition. (Photo by Steve Babin)

1987, and South Hall in 1997 have served to establish the center as a regional site for convention trade.

The new music venue is part of a $42 million expansion – which includes a 35,000 square-foot ballroom, an outdoor terrace, the addition of 14,000 square feet of breakout meeting space, a 15,000 square-foot pre-event/lobby area, North Hall renovations, an expanded parking garage, a concourse that will connect South Hall and the Embassy Suites hotel, an extension of the existing concourse leading from the Concert Hall and Arena to the newly constructed facilities, and the addition of a new full-service kitchen.

Roughly two-thirds of the project’s $12 million budget will come directly from the VBC via revenue generated there and a city lodging tax will provide the other third. n

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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

COVER

Annual Small Business Awards Honor “Backbone of the Economy”

Lynn Troy of Troy 7 received the prestigious Russell G. Brown Executive Leadership Award,

By Bud McLaughlin Photography by Steve Babin

They’re called “mom and pop” stores, “garage startups” and “kitchen table businesses.”

What they all are is the “backbone of the economy.”

We’re talking about small businesses. Entrepreneurs. People going out on their own instead of working for someone.

Amidst a gala “Masquerade Ball” atmosphere of a masked audience in formal attire, the Huntsville Madison County Chamber celebrated the city’s entrepreneurial community in August’s 33rd annual Small Business Awards.

Gary Bolton, the Chamber board chair and vice president of global marketing for Adtran, welcomed the sellout crowd in the Von Braun Center’s North Hall. Hank Isenberg,

Chamber vice president, small business and events, and Haley Baker of WAFF-TV were the emcees.

“We are celebrating the most successful” small businesses, Bolton said.

“We received 650 nominations and there are 155 contenders,” he said. “There are 1,100 people here …”

Lynn Troy of Troy 7 received the prestigious Russell G. Brown Executive Leadership Award, the top honor presented annually.

Canvas was a double-winner, capturing the Woman-owned Business of the Year and the Government Contracting – Technology Business of the Year awards.

Mary Taylor Griffith with Aleta Technologies was named the HASBAT Small Business Advocate for Excellence.

A new category debuted, saluting the area’s booming growth – Local “Creative” of the Year. It was won by Pizzelle’s Confections.

The other winners were: Rocket City Digital, Emerging Business of the Year; Flint River Dental, Medical Practice of the Year; Capstone Realty, Professional Services Business of the Year; Kristina Sexton of NXTSTEP Family Law, Young Professional of the Year; Downtown Rescue Mission, Nonprofit of the Year; MartinFederal, Government Contracting – Professional Services Business of the Year; Earth and Stone Wood Fired Pizza, Culinary Business of the Year; Matt Curtis Real Estate, Service Business of the Year; and Summit Information Solutions, Technology Business of the Year. n

September 2018

STORY

Some attendess of the Annual Small Business Award Masquerade Ball

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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

DINING

Hand-Crafted Daily: Puerto Rican Cuisine

By Wendy Reeves An electrical engineer and real estate agent teamed up to start a local bakery with Puerto Rican flair two years ago and they’re already looking to expand the business.

Ten years ago, Yamil Lucena was looking to buy a house when he moved to Huntsville to work with a large aerospace company.

Jossie Beltran, a local realtor, helped him find that house. They quickly learned the other was born and raised Puerto Rico and they became fast friends and eventually business partners.

Today, they are looking to expand Dolce Pan Bakery. Lucena said they’ve talked about adding another location or perhaps a food truck.

“We are leaning toward the food truck,” Lucena said.

It’s another chapter for the business partners who started out thinking about selling flan and bread at a local farmer’s market. When that didn’t work out, they wound up with a full-fledged bakery on Governors Drive.

“We talked about trying to come up with something to bring a little bit of home to our community here,” Lucena said. “We talked and planned for probably five years but either economically it didn’t make sense or our work was too much or I was flying all the time with my job.”

Then in 2015, they started talking about it seriously again.

Lucena loves to bake and his specialty is flan, from a family recipe. In fact, Lucena goes in early in the morning to prepare flan before he goes to work at his engineering job. He returns after work to help out and close the bakery for the day.

He’s also always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong desire to own his own business. Beltran had a history of opening and managing successful businesses and she agreed to take on the bulk of managing the business.

After three places didn’t work out, Lucena spotted a place for rent on Governors Drive and asked Beltran to check it out. At last, 2818 Governors Drive would become the spot they would transform into Dolce Pan Bakery.

“It was much bigger than what we had first talked about, much bigger” Lucena said. “But I remember when I lived in California before I moved to Huntsville, there was a small place like this there that I went to from time to time because it was good, but also because it gave me the feel of home.

“That’s what we wanted to create here.”

It took months of work to complete the build out and decorations. When it came to choosing a name, Lucena knew he wanted Dolce in the name because he’s always loved the word, which means sweet. Pan means bread. That’s how the bakery’s name came together.

“This is all family,” Beltran said.

From the artwork and sayings printed on the walls, to the wood pallets transformed into wood décor elements. If it’s in the bakery, a family mem-

Dolce Pan Bakery co-owner Yamil Lucena with an depiction of his hometown flag which he says is the first flag of Puerto Rico

“We talked about trying to come up with something to bring a little bit of home to our community here.”

and pastries, they also service sandwiches — including a requested Cuban that was added to the lineup, Puerto Rican coffee from Lucena’s hometown, and fresh juices.

“One of our challenges has been some people come in and think we are like a big restaurant but here, everything we serve is crafted fresh everyday,” Beltran said. “But our customers have also told us what they want and we do what we can to do it, like having a special of the day.”

Beltran said keeping customers in mind and a creative staff is part of the reason the business keeps growing.

“We keep it authentic,” Beltran said. “And we like to know our customers.”

The bakery is just like what can be found in Puerto Rico. If someone asks for something special and it’s possible, the staff tries to fix it.

“We make it like your mom or grandmother would make it in Puerto Rico,” Lucena said.

“After our customers realized that, now they say it is Dolce Pan Bakery co-owner Jossie Beltran (right) takes time to chat with customer waiting worth the wait.” n ber had a hand in it. Including all of the food preparation.

When they opened in January 2016, they had only told friends and family about it through word of mouth and social media.

“We sold out of everything in one day,” Beltran said.

Since then, Dolce Pan Bakery has steadily grown a diverse customer base and menu. From flan, bread

on an order to go.

Authentic Puerto Rican coffee (left) and pastries (right) from Lucena’s hometown

September 2018

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Advertorial

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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

MARKETING

SUCCESSFUL BRANDS and LOGOS Stand Up and Say ‘YAY!’

By Kimberly Ballard

In 2700 B.C., the ancient Egyptians painted images on the temple walls of livestock being rounded up and branded with the Pharaoh’s cartouche using a hot iron to sear it into the flesh. It was the first known example of a logo being used to permanently and unabashedly identify ownership and send a powerful message that the king’s cattle were far superior to everyone else’s.

While the practice of modern day branding was made popular by the late David Ogilvy, known in the 1950s as the “Father of Advertising,” the idea of establishing a brand name and logo as something permanently burned into a company’s very existence, has gone the way of modern day livestock ear tags.

Instead of a red-hot branding iron, cattlemen put tags on the cattle’s ears, but the tags often fall off and get lost with the cow’s meanderings. In the same way, many businesses fail to realize the importance of their brand, sending mixed signals about who they are as a company and why their products and services are unique.

“If I go into a new client and start talking to them about growth strategies, the first thing I’m going to look at is their brand,” said Felica Sparks, founder and chief strategist at Huntsville’s Ad4!

Group. “Most of the time, I see brand disfunction with huge breaks between where the brand started and where the brand resides today.

“You should build a foundation that continues building upon itself, so you become vertically integrated as a company. Dysfunctional branding looks more like an octopus. It’s over here, it’s over there.

“If I can, I start with a brand survey, talking to their employees, associates, and customers to see how they feel about the company and the products or services they provide. If possible, I will do impromptu focus groups and let them tell me what they consider their brand to be. That feedback gives me a roadmap.”

Much has been said recently, both good and bad, about the naming of North Alabama’s new minor league baseball team, but it might be a good time to reflect on the advice given by Ogilvy, con-

cerning the importance of building a powerful and enduring brand.

You cannot bore people into buying.

When Ralph Nelson, managing partner of BallCorps LLC, met with Madison Mayor Paul Finley in April, the mayor brought with him what both men thought to be an excellent name for the team: The Madison Missiles.

“I worked on the player’s side of the majors for 25 years and buying a minor league baseball team has always been a dream of mine,” said Nelson. “I’ve been studying the business side more than the player side for a long time and I think branding this team is the most important thing we will do until we actually have people in our ballpark; and then the most important thing will be the experience people get from being inside the ballpark.”

Among the things he said he has learned is that incredibly successful minor league franchises, both financially and substantially, have teams whose names and mascots were selected by the community.

“A brand is more than a name or a logo. It’s an emotion,” said Sparks. “When you’re launching a business or product line, the name should be the best representation of the overall emotion associated with your company, product or service.

“The name is important because it is an extension of that emotion you want a community, city, or the world to know about your company brand.”

Nelson and Finley jumped on the phone with Brandiose, a San Diego-based branding company.

The company designed most of the logos of the 10 most successful minor league baseball teams and merchandise. All the names were chosen by the communities, Nelson said.

“Their response was that people are going to hear that the team will be called the Madison Missiles, and they are going to say, ‘Oh yeah. I like that. I get it’,” he said. “But, being left out of the process, they will move on to something else.”

Victor Johnson, founder and marketing communications consultant for Huntsville’s Nightowl Communications, said the tricky part for successfully branding the newly named team is identifying

common messages and visuals that have 100 percent buy-in from the community, and not just 20 percent here and 20 percent there.

“The whole marketing pitch, logo, graphics, color, name, music, message has to be such that it doesn’t leave any member of the target market scratching their head and asking, ‘What is that?’, ‘What does it mean?’,” said Johnson. “It has to be fun, bright, cheerful, show activity and motion.

When the 6-year-old sees it and hears it and gets excited, the whole family has to get excited.

“The branding and logo have to say ‘Yay!’ to the parents, ‘Yay!’ to the kids. ‘Yay!’ to the community as a whole. That gives it power.”

He said that is not always easy and the new baseball team will find it more difficult because there are several equally important market segments who see and hear visuals and messages differently. Because it is not possible to design a logo or brand that appeals to 100 percent of a segmented target market, they should instead design it to meet the common needs of all those segments.

“Color will be essential,” Johnson said. “Psychologists say there are certain colors that trigger certain emotions. The way our culture is created, we look at blue and green as the outdoors. Blue is water and motion; green is food, red means stop, yellow means caution.

“I look at the people who will be coming to baseball games and I would let them define those colors.”

Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science, and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process.

Both Sparks and Johnson agree that Ogilvy’s advice is perfectly exemplified in the Nike “Swoosh” logo.

A graphic design student at Portland State University in 1971, Carolyn Davidson unconsciously saw so many sports in terms of a “swoosh” – tennis, golf, baseball, etc., and she was able to encapsulate all of it in that famous sports logo.

“It has been so well-branded and so well-supported,” said Johnson. “As adults, we get blurred and look for something fancy, something

September 2018

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COMMUNITY unique, but what Davidson did was focus her mind and sports came to life in that logo. That’s the fun part, when you realize you have created a brand that is so unique, it is an immediate hit out in the marketplace.”

“I have worked in ad agencies where we charged $5,000 to $7,500 for a branded logo and that did not include a marketing strategy behind it,” said Sparks. “The Nike logo is one of the simplest and yet most recognizable brands worldwide and it was created by a student who was paid $35.”

The image and the brand. It is the total personality of a brand rather than any trivial product difference which decides its ultimate position in the market.

Nelson said they will unveil the mascot and team name on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. at Rocket Republic Brewery in Madison.

“We are expecting a full house,” he said. “The community engagement has been extraordinary.

People are talking about it at cocktail parties and in restaurants. I was in a bar in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, a 6-hour drive away and the people at the next table were talking about our Name the Team contest and they had absolutely no idea who I was or that I was there.

“It has stimulated conversation everywhere and, although some of it has been negative, most of it is positive and, at least, everybody is talking about it!” n

United Way of Madison County: 75 Years of Community Caring

By Lori J. Connors The United Way of Madison County has a good reason to celebrate.

Seventy-Five years ago, several Madison county community members formed an organization called “The Community Chest.” On Aug. 20, 1943, the group banded to demonstrate what they referred to as “the Golden Rule in Action.” Their mission was to assist their fellow citizens in need.

Present and former staff members, along with board members, collaborative partner organizations, and several community leaders recently met to reminisce and to celebrate an important milestone.

Historical photos and assorted memorabilia told the story of the many years of community generosity. Along with a cake, Girl Scout cookies, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the guests were presented with handwritten thank you cards, designed with original artwork by kids from Harris House and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Although its name has changed over the past 75 years; from “the Community Chest” to “United Givers,” the United Way of Madison County continues to keep its mission focus on serving the community. From children to senior adults, assistance is provided in the form of food, shelter, education, and training to individuals and families in need.

Since its humble beginnings in 1943, the United Way of Madison County has raised $200 million. Last

year alone, 77,000 people benefited from the services provided by its 32 collaborative partners. A few of those partners include the YMCA, Phoenix, Family Services, Christmas Charities Year Round, Girl Scouts of North Central Alabama, Harris House for Children, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

United Way’s collaborative partners receive a variety of support, which includes funding and volunteer support, as well as expertise and counsel on best practices and emerging trends. The primary organizational focus to providing needed assistance to programs whose missions mos-t closely align with those of United Way and are based on current community needs.

United Way of Madison County has adopted the UW Worldwide LIVE UNITED model, thus initiating the shift to Community Impact at the local level.

New goals for the common good are set, focusing on education, income, and health. With this enhanced strategic approach with well-defined community outcomes, United Way of Madison County has taken community support to the next level.

Part of the next level includes technology. The ePledge Portal and 211 Online Call Center are two new web-based enhancements designed to make contribution and seeking much-needed assistance more efficient.

For more information, go to: http://www.uwmadisoncounty.org. n

14

Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

FINANCIAL

CREDIT UNIONS, BBB to Host Fraud Summit in October

By Bud McLaughlin

Don’t believe everything you hear and only half of what you see.

And, today, that old saying is even more powerful, especially when it comes to scams and smartphones.

You see, phone scammers are using software to mask their real identities by displaying a fake telephone number.

It’s called “phone spoofing” and its used by scammers to mislead people into thinking the call is from a reputable business or person.

And it can cost a victim – financially.

With the near-epidemic rise in bank fraud and computer hacking, local credit unions and the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama will hold a fraud summit, Oct. 1 at 3 p.m., in the Atrium. The lineup includes financial institutions, law enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission, the Alabama Securities Exchange and other agencies. The public is encouraged to attend.

Recently, several North Alabama credit unions held a joint press conference at the Redstone Federal Credit Union Atrium to address phone spoofing, a criminal act that has affected thousands of people around the country.

“The tremendous rise in spoofing … is almost epidemic,” said Greg Olmsted, president of the North Alabama Educators Credit Union and president of the Northeast Alabama Chapter of Credit Unions. “A retired police officer fell for the jury scam because the number said Madison County Sheriff’s Department.

“If a retired police officer can be scammed … anybody can be.”

It’s a sophisticated operation that is fairly simple in this digital age of the Internet and the Dark Web. Most likely, the information was collected through hacking

and massive data breaches, such as last September’s Equifax breach where the personal information of more than 143 million people may have been compromised.

One scam that has been prevalent recently involves a call purportedly from a financial institution, e.g., a credit union. The caller has the victim’s name, phone number, last four digits of the credit card and the expiration date.

The victim will be told their card was fraudulently used and the “credit union” wants to put a halt on the account – and needs the three-digit CVS code on the back to verify the account.

This is where the recipient of the call needs to act to prevent becoming a victim.

“You just think it’s your credit union and you’re just giving them the information,” said Leslie Stone of the Rocket City Federal Credit Union. “We do not ask for that information (the three-digit CVS).”

The victims of the scam come from all walks of life, a fact that stuns Kayce Bell of the Alabama Credit Union.

“It’s surprising to me how many people fall victim,” she said. “We’re shocked at the people – high-ranking military, well-heeled people …

“The scammers are very good at what they do.”

Joe Newberry of Redstone Federal Credit Union said the credit unions decided to ally themselves for the good of the public.

“This is a very personal matter to me and our members,” he said. “We’ve had so many data breaches through the years.

“We’re doing this as a coalition of credit unions because we care about our members.”

If someone is suspicious of the caller, hang up and call the credit union number on the back of the credit card or debit card.

“All of the information is available on the Dark Web,” said Elizabeth Garcia of the Better Business Bureau. “We must assume all our information is out there. Be very cautious.

“We ask consumers to trust, but verify; question everything; and think before you act.” n

Target Your Advertising to Reach Business Leaders in Madison County!

To advertise in Huntsville Business Journal Call 256.533.8078, Visit www.huntsvillebusinessjournal.com or e-mail carolyn@eventhuntsville.com

September 2018

15

Business Briefcase HudsonAlpha Conference to Draw International Researchers The Rocket City will become Genome City when researchers gather here for the sixth annual Immunogenomics conference.

Leading immunology and genomics researchers from around the globe will convene at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology Oct. 1-3 for the conference.

Immunogenomics lies at the intersection of immunology and genomics and explores the ways in which the human genome interacts with disease. Researchers, students and academics discuss what’s next in the field and how it will help shape the future of human health.

In its sixth year, the Immunogenomics conference is truly international, attracting science leaders, faculty and students from a dozen countries who have the opportunity to learn more about not only HudsonAlpha but also the Rocket City.

“Everyone who comes here always talks about how great the city of Huntsville is and how they enjoyed being on the HudsonAlpha campus,” said Dr. Devin Absher, faculty investigator at HudsonAlpha and conference organizer.

“And at no other conference will you be able to eat dinner under the Saturn V rocket at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.” n

Anglin Reichman Snellgrove & Armstrong Honored Anglin Reichman Snellgrove & Armstrong has been named one of 2018 Best Accounting Firms to Work For by national publication Accounting Today.

The publication is a leading information resource for public accountants.

According to Accounting Today, the annual survey and awards program is conducted in partnership with Best Companies Group, and is designed to identify, recognize and honor the best employers in the accounting profession.

“We are honored to be selected for this recognition,” said Managing Partner Gary Anglin. “Our team members are our greatest asset and we work constantly to provide the best possible career path, quality of life and work environment for everyone.”

ARSA, the largest locally owned CPA firm headquartered in Huntsville, has been operating for nearly 30 years.

“As we continue to focus on the growth of our company we have also made it a priority to not forget the most important part of what we do - our people,” said Director of Staff Development Wendy Tucker. n

Teledyne Brown Awarded Next Generation UUV Contract Vehicle Teledyne Brown Engineering was announced as one of 23 companies awarded the Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Family of Systems IDIQ contract to further developments and technologies for undersea vehicles.

“Teledyne Brown Engineering is excited to assist in future developments for the Navy’s undersea vehicles,” said company President Jan Hess. “This opportunity will allow us to provide the subsea warfighter with state-of-the-art technology drawing from our broad areas of expertise.”

The UUV FOS contract was awarded by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division in Newport, R.I., and has a ceiling value of $561.2 million with options that could raise that amount to $794.5 million. n

Pinnacle Solutions boosts Embry Riddle Program A Pinnacle Solutions engineering program has helped provide a teaching boost to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s aircraft crash site program.

The new engineering program in Unmanned and Autonomous Systems uses the Aerial Robotics Virtual Lab, built by Huntsville-based Pinnacle, and allows students to develop an operational aircraft and control station. This master of science program is expected to attract students from various fields currently utilizing unmanned aerial systems including military, government, energy, transportation, telecommunications and, even, entertainment.

Embry Riddle uses virtual laboratories for aircraft crash site investigation and unmanned aerial systems robotics as part of its undergraduate and masters level courses.

To learn more about Pinnacle Solutions, visit www.pinnacle-si.com.

Longtime AM Fixture WTKI Can Also Be Heard on FM Huntsville radio station WTKI is now broadcasting on FM airwaves.

The longtime business/talk station can be heard at 105.3 FM, as well as its 1450 AM signal.

Station owner Fred Holland is the longest-serving radio talk host in North Alabama. His morning show airs daily from 6-8 a.m. n

tiag Opens Huntsville Office; Pennywell Named GM

High School Students Help Discover New Antibiotics

tiag has opened an office here and named a Huntsville resident as general manager as a commitment to its Army and Redstone Arsenal customers.

“As home to numerous Army commands, it’s an ideal location …,” said tiag President and Chief Operating Officer Neil Lampton. “Our new Huntsville office provides a quality venue for team and community collaboration for numerous IT initiatives we are proud to support.”

Rod Pennywell is the general manager of the The Reston, Va.,-based technology services firm and systems integrator. The company supports the Army Materiel Command and will have its offices at 600 Boulevard South, Suite 104.

Pennywell has a background in business development and strategy, program management and systems engineering. Pennywell has also worked for Booz Allen Hamilton and Ernst & Young and supported the Missile Defense Agency’s development of the ballistic missile defense system. During a 10-year career as an Army officer and aviator, he was Ranger/Airborne qualified and flew Black Hawk helicopters as a test pilot with the 82nd Airborne Division.

“Many folks refer to Huntsville as Rocket City, H-Town or Huntsvegas,” said Pennywell, a certified systems engineer. “To me, Huntsville is home.”

For questions about tiag, call (256) 705-3515. n

Scientists from CFD Research partnered with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Oak Ridge Associated Universities to teach, inspire and involve high school students in the company’s own antibiotic discovery process.

Officials from the Huntsville-based company plan to transition the initiative into Huntsville-area high schools.

CFD Research Scientist Kyle H. Lewter taught the high school students in Maryland for two weeks. CFD Research and the DTRA will use their research to advance and develop new antibiotics for combatting biological warfare agents and so-called “Super Bugs” that have become resistant to most modern antibiotics.

“Students were very excited knowing their efforts were going towards active antibiotic discovery research, which could lead to real medical breakthroughs,” Lewter said. “Their eagerness to follow and understand downstream results was encouraging and opens the door for expansion of the initiative to reach more students while generating more progress toward new antibiotics.”

Students used metagenomic techniques to isolate microbes and long environmental DNA from local rivers. Using synthetic biology, the DNA was altered and inserted into an engineered bacterium creating a “library” that will be utilized by CFD Research to discover new antibiotics. n

16

Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL

ENTREPRENEURS

INTERIORS BY CONSIGN Providing Alternative for 25 Years

By Kimberly Ballard

Fine furnishings are made for luxury, built to last and designed to transcend style and trends, but they can also be pricey.

People who are moving into a home temporarily or have a second home on the beach or at the lake, don’t always want to invest thousands of dollars in sturdy, traditional wood-made furnishings, yet they still expect quality and comfort.

Jennifer Mullin and business partner Pam Birkholz bought the original Interiors by Consign home furnishings store on Whitesburg Drive in Huntsville four years ago.

And, last month marked a double milestone for the business.

While celebrating its 25th anniversary, Interiors by Consign had a Pam Birkholz on the left and Jennifer Mullin on the right, owner of Interiors

by Consign in Huntsville and Madison.

grand opening Aug. 30 of a 4,000 square-foot store on Hughes Road in Madison.

With a background in interior decorating, Mullin was one of the store’s best customers before recognizing an opportunity to buy into a growing retail market. She said the consignment business model has been growing slowly but steadily over the past few years, and its popularity includes several market segments.

“Consignment is an excellent option for families that are downsizing,” she said. “Interiors by Consign, for instance, doesn’t carry anything but new and lightly used fine furnishings.

“We only buy strong, quality established brands like Ethan Allen and Hickory Chair because people can raise their families on it.”

Furthermore, Mullin said there are a lot of people who come to Redstone Arsenal on shortterm contracts.

“They don’t want to buy expensive furniture for a short period of time,” she said. “But consignment enables them to buy nice, comfortable furniture for

a heavily discounted price and then when they leave, they consign that furniture back to us on a 90-day contract and we sell it for them.

“We sell 98 percent of what we bring in during that 90 days.”

Millennials are another candidate for consignment, she said.

“They don’t necessarily value heavy wooden furniture,” Mullin said. “Their tastes lean more toward lighter, streamlined, ready-to-assemble furniture … (which) begins to fall apart if it is taken apart and moved a couple of times.

“Eventually they figure out that quality has merit and since they tend to be recyclers, what better way to recycle than buying and selling on consignment?”

And, real estate professionals looking for affordable furniture to stage houses are a growing market segment for consignment.

“Buying traditional brands at a deep discount from a consignment store just makes sense,” Mullin says. n