5 Days to the Showcase!

Luke’s Toy Factory
Danbury, Connecticut
www.lukestoyfactory.com

Luke’s Toy Factory designs toys with a simple, old school wooden style. These are toys that look like they could have been hand crafted by a skilled wood worker, with some of the qualities of their full-size counterparts. But Luke’s Toy Factory toys are made using state of the art manufacturing processes and materials, right here in the USA. Everything used to make the toys – every sourced material, every tool and every supplier used – is American. 

Luke’s Toy Factory toys are fun to play with! Think of a 3D puzzle that becomes a truck when assembled. Designed for small hands, the toys are made with a bit of wiggle room, so that kids with developing motor skills are not frustrated. The company’s target age is 3 and up – just at the point where kids are outgrowing “baby toys” but aren’t quite ready for the precision required for more complicated building toys.

The CT SBDC has been instrumental in providing advice at every stage of Luke’s Toy Factory’s growth. Early in the research stage, the creators of Luke’s Toy Factory reached out to the SBDC, after attending a presentation on writing a business plan. When they met with Business Advisor Nelson Merchan at the Connecticut Small Business Development Center, he was immediately helpful, providing advice on funding, best business practices, and even practical advice on packaging. He actually researched and brought samples of ideas from other packaging that helped Luke’s Toy Factory craft its own packages.  (more…)

6 Days to the Showcase!

KuKuRuZa Gourmet Popcorn
Seattle, Washington
www.kukuruza.com

Create great gourmet popcorn and the world will beat a path to your door.

At least that’s been Grant and Ashley Jones’ experience with their Seattle-based business, KuKuRuZa Gourmet Popcorn. This winter, popcorn is flying off shelves in the Puget Sound as tasty treats for Christmas and Kwanzaa celebrations, but its appeal is broader than that.

Earlier this year, a KuKuRuZa store opened in the Hayat Mall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where customers were invited to break the fast of Ramadan with flavors first developed in the Jones’ Woodinville garage just three years earlier. The franchise agreement calls for up to 25 KuKuRuZa stores to open in the Middle East in the next five years. Other possibilities are being discussed in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and India.

With assistance from the Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Jones was able to build a comprehensive export and franchise strategy, without short changing the needs of his growing domestic market. The Washington SBDC provides no-cost business advising to small business owners.  (more…)

7 Days to the Showcase!

House of Design
Nampa, Idaho
Owners: Ryan Okelberry & Shane Dittrich
Staff: 6 full time employees, 2 contract employees
Website: thehouseofdesign.com

House of Design, formed in 2012, is led by two engineers who met working on several projects prior to deciding to start a company. With 30 years of experience, owners Ryan Okelberry and Shane Dittrich are passionate about the flexibility of robots and how they can be incorporated into the manufacturing process. House of Design’s focus is to identify and implement the right robotic solution using ‘flexible automation,’ the ability for a robot or system to be quickly and easily re-tasked to changes in product design. This ability improves quality, eliminates safety issues and provides the client the highest return on investment.

House of Design is a resident client in the Idaho SBDC’s incubator/accelerator – the TECenter. There they have taken advantage of SBDC training and consulting as well as having an industrial manufacturing space to build the robot systems. The SBDC has also provided referrals to link House of Design with other resources that can help their business and partners.  (more…)

8 Days to the Showcase!

Helios Remote Sensing Systems
Rome, New York
www.heliossensor.com

Rome, NY Tech Company Get On Uncle Sam’s Radar

Radar is involved in many different parts of our daily lives, such as the Doppler radar used to forecast weather or automatic position sensing in automobiles. An acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging, radar describes the energy that detects a target’s range and motion. One small business in Rome, New York, Helios Remote Sensing Systems, Inc., is taking radar technology to new heights and keeping our nation’s military and intelligence forces the best equipped in the world.

In 2007, Walter Szczepanski was ready to start his technology company after a career with GE Aerospace in Utica, NY and Lockheed Martin in Syracuse, NY, working on airborne sensors. Helios initially employed just Szczepanski and his business-savvy daughter, Janine, but then quickly grew to include more employees in the following years. Walter and Janine turned to business advisor David Lerman at the Mohawk Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for help with a business plan to launch Helios Remote Sensing Systems. Janine worked with Roxanne Mutchler, the statewide SBDC government contracting expert, to access BIDLinx, a free SBDC program which sends customized listings of contracting opportunities right to her email address.  (more…)

9 Days to the Showcase!

Green Technologies
Gainesville, Florida
www.green-edge.com

Successfully Exporting Green Technologies to New Markets

It’s no wonder that Dr. Amir Varshovi was recognized as the 2014 U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Florida. Along with his business partner, Marla Buchanan, Varshovi has demonstrated success in two areas that are critical to the growth of a strong national economy – expansion into international markets and development of sustainable green technology.

An Unlikely Pair

Varshovi arrived in the United States from Iran in 1972 as an undergraduate student. The son of an English teacher, and a self-professed researcher by nature, he admits playing with chemistry sets when he was a little kid. He went on to complete his Ph.D. in soil and water science at the University of Florida. While working as a researcher, he hired Buchanan, then an undergraduate student, to work in the lab. They were an unlikely pair given Buchanan was a criminal justice major. Buchanan went on to law school and became a shareholder in a successful Jacksonville law firm, but the two kept in touch, and when the time was right, they began working together again to start Green Technologies.  (more…)