Archive for December, 2006
December 31st, 2006 | 
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La Verne Abe Harris, an assistant professor of graphic information technology in the College of Science and Technology at ASU, has been awarded the 2006-2007 ASU Foundation Women and Philanthropy Excellence and Access Award in the amount of $33,000 for seed money for her IDeaLaboratory in the Polytechnic campus. Read the rest of this entry »
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Max Jarman
The Arizona Republic
The walls of Bill Perciballi’s office are covered with framed letters from soldiers describing life-threatening situations they survived because of his company’s products.
Tempe-based ArmorWorks LLC makes the body armor used by many of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“When you get letters from people saying the product you made saved their life, it somehow makes all the hassles of doing business Read the rest of this entry »
Editors Note: It being a slow news day, and myself pondering several venture strategies for The Blog Mill, I thought I would publish this article by Wil Schroter, of GoBigNetwork, and maybe a few more select “how to” articles for those of you seeking capital.  — Chris
If you’ve ever pitched your new business idea to a venture capital angel investor, only to be tortured with an endless list of reasons your idea will never work, my sympathies go out to you. The rejection of being told your business idea sucks can be incredibly painful.
That said, I think you need to keep one thing in mind while you’re being told what a buffoon you are for presenting your idea – maybe this venture capital angel investor has no idea what they hell he’s talking about! Read the rest of this entry »
Andrew Johnson
The Arizona Republic
Established in 2003 to market the inventions of Arizona State University researchers, Arizona Technology Enterprises has tried to bolster innovation on campus and in metropolitan Phoenix.
Since replacing ASU’s Office of Technology, Collaborations & Licensing three years ago, the technology transfer organization has been able to identify developments with commercial potential more quickly and increase licensing revenue for the school, according to CEO Peter Slate. Read the rest of this entry »
TUCSON, AZ — (MARKET WIRE) — December 29, 2006 — Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMSI) today announced that the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit has overturned the District Court’s 2005 finding of non-infringement by BioGenex Laboratories, Inc. of Ventana’s U.S. Patent No. 6,352,861. In a written opinion, the Court of Appeals agreed with Ventana and determined that the lower Court’s verdict was the result of an improper claim construction. The case has been remanded to the District Court for further proceedings. Read the rest of this entry »
As the year draws to a close, The Arizona Republic looks back at some of the biggest stories and catches up with some well-known figures from the Valley’s past.
WHO: Glenn McGinnis, CEO of Arizona Clean Fuels and veteran oilman.
IN THE NEWS: In April 2005, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued an air-pollution permit that would allow construction of a 150,000-barrel-a-day refinery east of Yuma. It was the first proposed U.S. refinery to get such a permit in three decades. In July, the company’s struggle to build the refinery was the focus of a congressional hearing that aimed to loosen refinery permit regulations. Industry representatives and many lawmakers sought to change laws to encourage construction of more domestic refineries, particularly as gas raced beyond $3 per gallon last summer because of high oil prices and tight gasoline supplies.
WHAT’S UP NOW? McGinnis said the group is making progress on its ambitious plan. It has secured a letter of intent from Canadian oil suppliers that would allow Arizona Clean Fuels to ship oil to a terminal in Mexico. A $650 million pipeline would carry the crude to the proposed refinery near Tacna, 40 miles east of Yuma. McGinnis said the group expects to restart talks with Mexico to tap that nation’s supplies and potentially return refined fuels to Mexico. Arizona Clean Fuels expects to secure financing for the $2.9 billion project early next year. The group hired a financial adviser to help secure investors.
HOPES FOR THE NEW YEAR?
McGinnis will be busy attempting to secure investors and oil. His group also has talked with several companies about operating the refinery.
Claire Bush
Special for The ABG
Whoever said, “Build it and they will come,” probably didn’t have a Web site.
A well-crafted site can be a valuable marketing tool, but first visitors have to know how to reach you.
Enter search engine optimization specialists, Web gurus who specialize in techniques that boost a site’s visibility on the “Big 3″ search engines of Google, Yahoo and MSN. These technicians typically program specialized keywords and links into a site to boost ratings.
It can be a challenge to know who to hire to perform the task, however, because the field of SEO technology is not regulated and no certification program exists to denote “professional” status.
An informal poll of several Valley SEO providers offers a “how-to” for those who want to build their first site or enhance one.
“Some clients come to us with a real pretty Web site, but it’s been built with a code that isn’t friendly,” said Sabine Sharp, owner of Web design and consulting firm Glendale Designs. “It’s best to work right from the start with a company that can both design and optimize.”
Existing sites also can benefit from SEO upgrades, according to Adam White, president of Mesa-based Website Breakthrough. “A new site usually takes . . . nine to 12 months to begin ranking in Google, while one already in existence can show substantial improvement in a just a month or two after optimization.”
Yahoo and MSN typically pick up ranking more quickly, he added.
There are good guys and bad guys, even in cyberworld.
“Black hat” SEO providers use unethical methods to boost a site’s presence, including “keyword stuffing,” or targeting a certain word into every possible location into the Web site without regard for content. Stuffing also can be done by inserting keywords in the same font color as the background of the page.
“The visitor can’t see it, but the search engine picks it up,” Sharp said.
Then there’s “random link creation,” where unrelated links are added to a site to boost presence.
“Link building is probably the most crucial part of the process, but it’s easier said than done,” White said. “You don’t necessarily want to build reciprocal links but find sites with relevant content that will agree to link yours.”
Once a visitor arrives at the site, make sure the content is worth the search.
“Search engines really want to see unique content that they haven’t seen before. The key is to mix in the right phrases in a format that’s acceptable to them and present it in a fresh new way,” White said.
Most site owners write their content, but a good designer will ask questions about a business, its customers, products and services to do the correct keyword research.
Sharp’s firm charges anywhere from $1,200 to $20,000 to build a site, depending on the complexity of the project. “If the site is set up correctly, changes aren’t significant in the long run. It’s more a matter of tidying up and upkeep,” she said.
White’s clients typically enter a six-month agreement to build and monitor a site; prices start at $2,500.
Christopher Conlan, owner of the Blog Mill in Scottsdale, works on a month-to-month basis for existing sites, with fees varying from $125 to $1,500.
“If they see results after a month or two, that’s all they need,” he said. “They can move on to spending their money on other marketing projects.”
In the end, “everything gets back to a search,” Conlan said. “Even when you give someone your business card, back at home they’re looking you up on Google.”
Reach the writer at claireeileen @aol.com.
   PHOENIX, Dec. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — InPlay Technologies (Nasdaq: NPLA) today announced the retirement of Tony Van Zeeland, age 65. Van Zeeland will retire as chief technology officer and resign as a member of InPlay’s Board of Directors effective December 31. He will actively continue as a technology consultant to the company for a period of two years and continues to be a significant shareholder with over 8 percent stock ownership. Read the rest of this entry »
   SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — MedCom USA, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: EMED) announced today that it has filed the SB2 for Card Activation Technologies, Inc. with the SEC.
   MedCom shareholders of record at the close of business on December 15th, 2006 will be issued one share in Card Activation Technologies, Inc. for each share held in MedCom USA, Inc. On that date, there were 86,770,504 shares of MedCom stock outstanding with 44,431,613 Read the rest of this entry »
Doug Carroll
The Arizona Republic
Got high school? Thanks to a free, Chandler-based online alternative school, 81 students can say yes. And now they’ve got diplomas, too.
Primavera Online High School, a fully accredited charter school that began three years ago and has the Web address of www.GotHighSchool.com, graduated its fall class Friday in a brief ceremony at the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa. Read the rest of this entry »
