Photo Credit: Fred Lambert
By Fred Lambert / flambert@valenciavoice.com
August 30, 2012
Filed under News, Uncategorized
With Republicans rallying behind party leaders this week, many forums and expos on local and national business have been held in blocks surrounding the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
In conjunction with a forum named ?What is Working,? held by the Huffington Post, Microsoft, and other companies, an Entrepreneurship Expo for up-and-coming businesses was held Wednesday afternoon in the bottom levels of the Cuban Club in historic Ybor City, Fla.
Entrepreneurs from across the country were invited to display creative business models that are making innovation and job growth a reality. Attendees filled the Cantina Room where lines of tables with laptops and presentation boards advertised the varying businesses, while representatives explained concepts.
You Can Learn Inc. was one such business. They are a developer of educational applications for mobile devices in the Tampa Bay area.
Theresa Wolds, a University of South Florida student, who was receiving her master?s degree in mass communications that very night, edits the apps.
?Our lessons are customizable based upon user input and user needs, so it doesn?t over-teach or under-teach the student,? she said, explaining that the company is currently working in conjunction with USF and their incubator program, as well as starting an outreach program in Hillsborough County to begin pilot programs implementing iPads into classroom methodology.
?We?re across the nation, but because it?s electronic software, there?s no need to be based in every single city where your applications might be implemented,? Wolds said. ?You can communicate with everyone now, that?s the beauty of educational technology.?
One of the stands in the corner advertised bottle openers made from shiny .50 caliber rifle shells.
This was an implement from Bullets2Bandages, a company founded by Erik Spalding and Cole Evans, two former U.S. Navy explosive ordnance disposal officers. Former Marine infantry officer Eric Montgomery, who first met Spalding and Evans at the United States Naval Academy, spoke about the company.
?The whole company was started up to support veteran charities,? he said; 15 percent of all of Bullets2Bandages? profit goes to veteran-related charities. ?That?s what we do, by donating a portion of our profits, by doing cooperating ventures with them, and just helping to raise money and raise awareness for what they do.?
Montgomery said, ?Now in terms of our marketplace, that?s going to be geared primarily toward veteran-owned small businesses, but also pretty much anything else that?s made in American small businesses.?
All of the materials for their bottle-opening bullet are authentic and manufactured in the U.S.
Brass shell casings are bought from the Department of Defense, who polices them from ranges after being fired, and the projectiles are purchased from a company in St. Louis, Mo. named High-Tech Ammo. Other tasks, like machining the projectile into the shell, are handled by small businesses in San Diego.
The veterans sell merchandise through their website primarily (www.Bullets2Bandages.org,) but also at brick and mortar stores like Navy and Marine Corps post exchanges and Urban Outfitters. The National Rifle Association recently bought 400 of the bottle openers.
Bullets2Bandages also sells items to two charities, who in turn sell them through their websites.
Montgomery said that the company has a mission to help veterans with small-business start-ups.
?We help by using our storefront marketplace to assist people in finding their message and help them get traction,? he said. ?Because that?s definitely something we struggled with in the beginning; was just getting traction and finding the mentorship and advice we needed to get started.?
Source: http://www.valenciavoice.com/uncategorized/2012/08/30/expo-for-new-business-innovation-held-at-rnc/
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