“The Durham-Chapel Hill metro is the ninth best place in the U.S. for black entrepreneurs and Raleigh-Cary is No. 11, according to a new report by research website GoodCall.”
Read ore in Triangle Business Journal.
New ‘Tree of Bikes,’ Annual Tower Lighting and Tree Challenge Headline ATC’s Biggest Ever Holiday Celebration
New ‘Tree of Bikes,’ Annual Tower Lighting and Tree Challenge Headline ATC’s Biggest Ever Holiday Celebration
Bike Donation Drive Kicks Off Festivities, Nov. 1-20, Tower Lighting Set for 12/4
(Durham, NC) – Oct. 28, 2015 – The holiday lights are getting bigger and brighter at American Tobacco in 2015, home of the Triangle’s largest holiday celebration. Joining perennial favorites like the American Tobacco Tower Lighting and Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge is a new tradition: a massive decoration with a purpose.
In addition to the historic water tower, American Tobacco will light their first ever Tree of Bikes at 7 p.m. on 12/4 on the patio in front of Burt’s Bees. The Tree of Bikes is a 25-feet tall sculpture made entirely of new children’s bicycles. Once the festivities conclude on Dec. 18, Happy Roots Entertainment will distribute the bikes to children living in affordable housing through the Cornwallis Road Housing Project. While Happy Roots has been a Christmas tradition in the affordable housing community for the past 7 years, the 120 bikes from the Tree of Bikes will allow Happy Roots to provide bikes to ten times more children than in years past.
“The Tree of Bikes is one of the coolest things we’ve ever done at American Tobacco,” says Michael Goodmon, vice president of real estate, Capitol Broadcasting Company. “We’re building a unique holiday sculpture that will celebrate the season and put smiles on dozens of kids faces this year. It is a home run anyway you look at it.”
Members of the community can donate new, fully assembled bicycles between Nov. 1-20 at the ReStore of Durham and Orange Counties located at 5501 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham, NC 27707. More information can be found at americantobaccocampus.com.
Old Favorites
For more than a decade, the American Tobacco Tower Lighting has marked the start to the season throughout the Triangle. This year, the festivities will take place on December 4 starting at 6 p.m. and will include exciting acts like the touring cast of the Sound of Music (DPAC Dec. 1-6). Area school choirs will also perform alongside Wool E. Bull and St. Nick himself.
Dozens of nonprofits will return to Diamond View Park to compete for the title of Top Tenenbaum in the 6th Annual Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge. Winning trees in different categories will walk away with thousands of dollars in donations as well as in kind support and prizes. Decoration day is Dec. 3 with the park opening for tours and voting after the Tower Lighting on Dec. 4.
In addition to the Tree of Bikes, American Tobacco also welcomes the community to donate new or gently used coats to WRAL’s Coats for Children Dec. 4 – Jan. 1. The Trosa Tree Lot will also sell Christmas Trees in Diamond View Park Nov. 25 – Dec. 22 to benefit the local charity.
Sponsors for the American Tobacco holiday celebrations include: WRAL.com, Fox 50 and Duke Energy.
About American Tobacco Campus
American Tobacco offers one million square feet of premium office space in a historic factory setting bustling with restaurants and businesses as well as the Durham Performing Arts Center and Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Featured in US News & World Report as the national model for urban revitalization, the campus serves as a bridge from Durham’s past as one of the Tobacco capitals of the world to its present and future as a knowledge, science and medical capital.
ATC owner Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. is a diversified communications company which owns and/or operates WRAL-TV, WRAL Digital, WRAZ-TV, WRAZ Digital, WRAL-FM, WRAL-HD2, WCMC-FM, WCMC-HD1, WDNC-AM, WCMC-HD2, WCMC-HD3, WCLY-AM, WCMC-HD4, Microspace, CBC New Media Group and Wolfpack Sports Properties (a joint venture with Learfield Sports) in Raleigh, NC; WILM-TV and Sunrise Broadcasting in Wilmington, NC and The Durham Bulls Baseball Club in Durham, NC.
SMASHING BOXES NAMED ONE OF THE “BEST ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPANIES IN AMERICA
Durham, N.C., October 26, 2015 — Smashing Boxes, a digital product agency headquartered in the American Tobacco Campus, was recently recognized as one of the “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America” by Entrepreneur magazine’s Entrepreneur360™ Performance Index, a premier study delivering the most comprehensive analysis of private companies in America. Based on this study forged by Entrepreneur, Smashing Boxes is recognized as a company that exemplifies growth, not just in top and bottom line, but in sustainability and ability to achieve lasting success.
“Since we founded Smashing Boxes in 2010, the company has grown from just two guys, Brian and myself,” said CEO Nick Jordan, “to nearly 70 strategists, designers, developers and support staff. One of our greatest challenges with such rapid growth has been maintaining and developing an entrepreneurial culture that encourages risk taking, change making and steady improvement. At every level, our team has risen to the occasion: the opportunity to make Smashing Boxes truly great.”
“Those honored have identified a problem, come up with a unique solution, and bravely built their enterprises around it,” says Ryan Shea, president of Entrepreneur Media. “They’ve accomplished new ways of producing sustainable growth and are an inspiration to others who want to fulfill their own entrepreneurial goals.”
As an agency, we serve a wide range of business needs from mHealth to eCommerce to Internet of Things. Whether we’re working with FHI360, Daimler, EmployUs or Moogfest, our goal is to provide the best possible product and experience. We’ve found that the best way to do both is to break down organizational silos and form deeply collaborative relationships with our clients. Its an integrative approach that leverages high transparency, open feedback and short feedback loops that result in greater speed to market. It’s our promise to our clients and our team.
Through in-depth surveys, the team of editors and researchers behind the E360 Performance Index collected more than 250 pieces of data from hundreds of participating U.S. based companies, focusing on growth drivers and challenges, goal setting, resource allocations, and reward systems. The analysis uncovered a subset of companies including Smashing Boxes, whose continued success is largely based on superior value creation for their customers, building an adaptive learning culture, and aggressive geographic expansion—making them the most dynamic firms in America today.
According to research conducted by the Business Dynamics Research Consortium (BDRC), less than one percent of U.S. businesses expanded capacity three or more years out of the past five. On average, they grew by 41% over the period whereas all other surviving companies lost an average of 4%. Based on the their analysis of 19.1 million for-profit US businesses, sustained growers are statistically more likely to survive and continue to grow over the next five years than any other group of businesses in the economy.
“The companies identified in the E360 Index are sustained growers, and based on our research, have proven adept at navigating the changing challenges of their marketplace to win new business and grow their output capacity year after year,” says Gary Kunkle, senior research fellow at the Business Dynamics Research Consortium and research partner of the E360 Performance Index.
For additional details on the E360 Performance Index and the companies recognized, visit: http://entm.ag/E360Index
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ABOUT THE SMASHING BOXES
Smashing Boxes partners with forward-thinking brands and startups to solve problems through the creative application of technology. We fuse strategy, design and development to create high-impact digital platforms, products and services. Visit smashingboxes.com for more information.
ABOUT ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA INC.
For nearly 40 years, Entrepreneur Media Inc. has been serving the entrepreneurial community providing comprehensive coverage of business and personal success through original content and events. Entrepreneur magazine, Entrepreneur.com, and publishing imprint Entrepreneur Press provide solutions, information, inspiration and education read by millions of entrepreneurs and small business owners worldwide. To learn more, visit entrepreneur.com.
Thrillist: The Triangle has the best doughnut shop in N.C.
Durham-based Monuts Donuts, which opened a shop and cafe on Ninth Street in January, is the best doughnut shop in North Carolina, according to entertainment and culture site Thrillist in “The Best Donut Shop in All 50 States.”
Read more in Triangle Business Journal.
Food Feeds Real-Estate Development In Edgy Areas
“A decade ago, downtown Durham, N.C., looked forlorn and empty. Storefronts and old tobacco buildings stood vacant, and street life was virtually nonexistent. “Everybody had fled to the suburbs or the Research Triangle,” said Scott Selig, associate vice president of Capital Assets and Real Estate at Duke University. “Literally 500 people were living there. The whole town was a ghost town.” No more. Those old buildings like the American Tobacco plant are packed with restaurants, retail, music venues, startups and established companies.
Read more at Investor’s Business Daily.
Automated Insights opens public beta for Associated Press, Yahoo technology
Months after being acquired by Vista Equity-owned statistics giant STATS Inc., Durham artificial intelligence firm Automated Insights is opening up its technology to the world.
Automated Insights CEO Robbie Allen calls it “one of the most exciting” days in the company’s history.
Read more in Triangle Business Journal.
Exec: Ansible to give Red Hat employees a Durham outpost, ‘choices’
“Red Hat (NYSE: RHT)’s purchase of Durham IT open source startup Ansibledoesn’t just bring in new products – it also brings in a Durham outpost, and one the growing Raleigh company needs, says Joe Fitzgerald, vice president of cloud management for Red Hat.
“I think it gives us a great opportunity,” he says, adding that many Red employees work in Durham. “It gives us options and choices.”
Read more at Triangle Business Journal.
17 PLACES TO GET YOUR PUMPKIN FIX IN DURHAM
“Fall is here, and with the seasonal change comes one of most widely anticipated flavors of the year-pumpkin! Anticipating the demand for fall flavors, Durham’s restaurants are ready to supply you with all your pumpkin needs. Explore the following list of sweet and savory pumpkin specials that will be on Durham menus this season:”
Read more at the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Red Hat to Acquire IT Automation and DevOps Leader Ansible
“RALEIGH, N.C. — October 16, 2015 —Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ansible, Inc., a provider of powerful IT automation solutions designed to help enterprises move toward frictionless IT. Ansible’s automation capabilities, together with Red Hat’s existing management portfolio, will help users drive down the cost and complexity of deploying and managing both cloud-native and traditional applications across hybrid cloud environments. With today’s announcement, Red Hat expands its leadership in hybrid cloud management, OpenStack and containers.” Ansible is a tenant on the American Tobacco Campus.
Read more at Red Hat.com
The best cities in N.C. for foodies on a budget
“Durham is the best city in North Carolina for food lovers on a budget, according to a new report from personal financial services website WalletHub, and Raleigh is the next best. But there are plenty of other U.S. cities where tasty, diverse food options are even more affordable.”
Read more in Triangle Business Journal.