Science-related suppliers Air Gas, American Laboratory Trading, Hydro Service and Supplies and the law firms Wiggin and Dana and Dilworth IP were named Tuesday as founding sponsors of the CURE Innovation Commons biotech incubator being outfitted at a former Pfizer Inc. building in Groton.

More corporations are teaming with startups to boost their own research and development. This in turn can help the new businesses prove and grow their concepts. Here’s what leaders of Chicago and Illinois organizations told us in earlier interviews about the benefits of their incubator programs.

Up-and-coming is a phrase we use A LOT around here. And there's good reason for it. Yes, many places are "expected" destinations (ahem, Paris) and some are so remote you have to really try to know about them.

Don't get us wrong, we love them all. But anywhere where the crowds are smaller seem the most promising to us.

Image: TripAdvisor

Setting limits for yourself, whether that involves the money you have to start a business, or the number of words you can use in a book, often delivers better results than keeping your options open.

In 1960, two men made a bet. The first man, Bennett Cerf, was the founder of the publishing company Random House. The second was Theo Geisel. Cerf bet Geisel $50 that Geisel couldn’t write a children’s book using only 50 words.

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Each passing day brings with it news of a brand new leak of personal information over the Internet. Be it credit card information belonging to millions of users or their email IDs and passwords, personal nude pictures of celebrities or even top secret classified government data — the world of hackers has democratized the internet and its lack of security at every possible level.

I noticed this relationship between Disney and American Tourister on luggage at a retail store. The designation for American Tourister as the official luggage of Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland intrigued me because of the strategic thinking questions the relationship immediately suggested.

You don’t typically use luggage while you are a Disney park unless you are staying on property. There isn’t necessarily a major signage opportunity associated with it. And luggage isn’t particularly integral to the experiences people most associate with Disney.

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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--All ten investment stakeholder sectors involved in private capital markets, including bankers, private equity investors, venture capitalists and brokers, expect to see an increased demand for capital next year, but business owners remain challenged by lack of access to funding, according to research released today from Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management.

According to the 2015 Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project (PPCMP) Survey Report, investors anticipate improved business conditions and many expect to close more deals next year than in 2014. Forty-one percent (41%) of respondents to the Investment Banker survey said that they expect to close six or more deals in the next 12 months.

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We talk a lot about accessibility when it comes to our websites and applications. We run our sites through the online testing validators, but I don’t think we do enough real-world testing with users who need to access our information.

No one really knows how to prepare our children for a workplace that none of us can imagine. If we aren’t signing up our preschoolers for coding classes, we’re hiring nannies who speak multiple languages. But before all those vocational skills we want for our children come in handy, there are great toys and games to help with an arguably more pressing task: building executive function. Strengthening a child’s ability to plan and tweak projects is a core area that will help them succeed in the workforce no matter how it turns out. And it enhances other important skills: building relationships, making tough decisions, and leading with authority.

When you are launching a business, you will hear countless bits of advice and opinions. Mention that you are building a startup, and everyone (from your roommate’s boyfriend to the person you just met at the coffee shop) has some idea about how you can make millions and get acquired by Facebook.

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Hey, it's OK to be lazy sometimes, especially when it comes to gift-giving. Picking out the perfect presents for everyone on your list at a manageable price can be such a pain. That's why these easy, genius gift generators were created, and you're going to want to try every single one of them.

1. Crap-O-Matic Gift Generator

Does Crap-O-Meter sound like a joke? Yes. But it's real, it's hilarious, and it's great for white elephant gifts. Simply click on the lever, and you'll see finds like music to calm dogs and inflatable toupees, all accompanied by silly commentary. Of course, there's the option to buy now or to "share this crap."

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With the pace of new-business formation on the wane in America, the country faces a crucial question: Can it maintain a dynamic marketplace for new ideas? Or will the game-changing inventions that fueled much of its economic growth in the 20th century become just a cherished memory?

The answer may lie in discerning whether it’s possible to compensate for the subtle shifts that have taken place in the architecture of American communities — changes that have begun to block the pipeline of innovation that once emerged from the routines of everyday life.

Google Glass has revolutionized interaction with wearable computing devices, and many expect it to be the model for the future of wearable computing devices. The Google Glass concept is extraordinary, but the underlying technology has been a bit of a disappointment. The current models are based on the Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor, which is outdated to say the least. The processor first made its debut in the Motorola DROID RAZR back in 2011, and Texas Instruments has since vacated the mobile processor market. The old technology provided Google with a solid base of proven hardware, but falls short in computing power and battery life.

December marks the season when high school students plug away at their college applications, and executives draw up business plans for the coming year. It’s a time when thoughts about the future dominate conversations from the dinner table to the Board Room. Yet despite age gaps between college students and CEO's, these disparate groups share anxiety over the resources needed to navigate the coming waves of new technology. In particular, this includes the future impact of big data and transformative technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT).

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The next time you tell yourself that you'll sleep when you're dead, realize that you're making a decision that can make that day come much sooner. Pushing late into the night is a health and productivity killer.

According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, the short-term productivity gains from skipping sleep to work are quickly washed away by the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on your mood, ability to focus, and access to higher-level brain functions for days to come. The negative effects of sleep deprivation are so great that people who are drunk outperform those lacking sleep.

The newest draft of German Crowdfunding Regulation, released by the German Government on November 10, faces increasing criticism from the German Startup Community and the Crowdfunding Industry. While trying to protect small investors, a number of prohibitions will cause huge market distortions, reduce the security of the investors while increasing the bureaucratic burden for platforms.

The Government draft has now been submitted to the Parliament, which scheduled the vote on the law for April 2015. There are increasing signs that the Parliament would be willing to change the law and make it less prohibitive for crowdfunding; however, a crowdfunding-friendly law is unlikely until the next election in 2017.

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We all have that friend who's first in line for phone upgrades, already subscribes to the geekiest gadget magazines and owns all of the tablets and consoles. Basically, this ultimate techie makes holiday shopping on their behalf a lot more difficult for us.

Don't fret — there is a way! While this friend may think he or she has it all, that's simply impossible. Although choosing an impressive gift requires creativity (and potentially a padded wallet), whether you decide to stick with technology and find your pal a unique, quirky gadget or you opt for tech-free, yet tech-relevant gifts, this list will surely suffice.

Part of growth for every successful business owner is learning when to step back and delegate parts of the business to managers who can oversee the day-to-day. But small business owners may struggle to find managers, a new study by CareerBuilder suggests.

The poll of over 3,600 full-time employees found that the vast majority (66 percent) has no desire to be managers of any kind. And when it comes to C-level management, a scant 7 percent aspire to this level.

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Certain words invoke powerful images in the mind—and “grit” is one of those words. When we associate grit with someone, it goes far beyond just being tough. It’s that something extra in the face of adversity.

Through the years we have seen many stories of grit, and it touches us deeply when the human spirit triumphs over situations that seem insurmountable. The Grit dynamic comes from several character traits: Intensity, toughness and a never-give-up, scrappy perseverance.