I am completely in favor of federal spending on U.F.O. research, an outlay whose existence was revealed to surprisingly little paranoid excitement by this newspaper last week. It is a sign of civilizational health to devote excess dollars to the scientific fringe, and to hope that bizarre secrets still await discovery even in our satellite-surveilled world. So good for Harry Reid and his little-green-men-obsessed billionaire pal for keeping the flame of weird curiosity alive.

In 2011, he showed his Modern Christmas Tree for the first time at a mid-century modern style trade show. And earlier this year, he appeared on the TV show “Shark Tank” looking for an investor to help expand his product line and brand.

Bliss’ Modern Christmas Tree is actually the brainchild of his late grandfather Lawrence “Bud” Stoecker, who designed the first Modern Christmas Tree out of cardboard rings. Today, the Modern Christmas Tree that retails as high as nearly $800, features some better materials and comes in several different styles and is the envy of anyone aspiring to complete a mid-century modern aesthetic in their home.

Image: https://smallbiztrends.com

Buried deep beneath the white marble foyer of the US Institute of Peace (Usip), with its sweeping views across the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, is a cavernous, black-walled basement. Workers call it the “bat cave”. For good reason. The windowless lair is the site of a bold experiment: Amazon’s plunge into the peace-making business.

Image: https://www.thetimes.co.uk

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should select only social media for marketing, or stick with digital media, or just count on traditional media. The answer is yes to all, and the challenge is how to choose how much of each, and how to integrate them for maximum impact and the least cost. None should be considered competitive mutually exclusive to any other.

Image: http://blog.startupprofessionals.com

Rather than focusing on massive corporate attraction projects, local economic developers should instead put their efforts behind homegrown entrepreneurial talent. That’s according to Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C. policy organization that tracks economic development deals around the country.

What’s led you to be critical of large economic development deals such as what we’ve seen in the last year with companies like Amazon and Foxconn? 

Image: Greg LeRoy, Executive Director of Good Jobs FirstCourtesy Photo

(Newswire.net -- December 23, 2017) -- The desire to be an entrepreneur stems from the need for a change, the need to make a direct impact on your environment. You can also add the need to be your own boss. You should however know that entrepreneurship is different from paid employment. Making this shift might be tricky but here are some guidelines that can help you.

When asked about trusting governments in 2017, the majority of people surveyed in 28 major countries didn’t answer positively. Civilizations have been built on trust, but the survey (named the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer) paints a bleak picture. And according to the Pew Research Center, only 2 in 10 Americans have “a lot” of trust in news media. It’s hard to imagine things getting worse.

Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec Group is partnering with Merck Serono, a subsidiary of company Merck KGaA, to launch a pharma and biotech startup incubator in Israel in early 2018. Israel-born businessman Mori Arkin and life sciences-focused venture capital fund Pontifax Ltd. will also be part of the venture. The plans were declared last week in an event held by the partners in Tel Aviv.

I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Scheduling is a mundane task I really don’t look forward to.

However, if I don’t schedule my time effectively, my mind will be scattered all over the place. That’s because having a schedule keeps me focused, organized and productive.

“I’m declaring 2017 the year of the woman,” says Kirsten Green, the founder of Forerunner Ventures, a VC firm that has helped launch successful digitally native brands that include Glossier, Away, Bonobos, Dollar Shave Club, and Birchbox. We’re inclined to agree with her.

Green acknowledges that women faced significant challenges in the last year: Women’s reproductive rights were under attack, a new administration holds a record low in installing women in leadership roles, and a nation unearthed decades of sexual harassment.

Image: https://www.fastcompany.com

It didn’t take any extra effort to produce a top 10 list in which every series has at least one strong female lead character, powerfully examined in detail. But in a year like 2017, these characters, and the roles they played, felt more vital than ever.

Film actors like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman asserted their present-day independence from the film industry on the frank and powerful Big Little Lies. On Feud, similar issues resonated on a meta level, with two Oscar winners playing two past Oscar winners who were never given the opportunity to meaningfully move their A-list careers forward. (Imagine what we might have gotten if the real Bette Davis and Joan Crawford could have participated in the 2017 TV landscape.)

Image: HBO (3); Netflix; FX; Photo Illustration by Allison Schaller

Now, let’s imagine a future where cities build economies infused with entrepreneurship and purposeful, supportive inclusion; with a new business on every corner and enough jobs—and talent—to drive community growth up and the unemployment rate down.

Let’s imagine a present where we clear a path for that future, transcend political rhetoric and dampen our urges to fear people not like “us.”

Can we imagine a national conversation that’s less about “taking jobs” and more about making jobs; that’s less debate about illegal immigration and more discussion about smart immigration policy?

The SBIR Person of the Year honors an individual who has made extraordinary efforts and contributions to promote and help grow America's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a long time SBIR supporter, immediately went to work to insure that new members of the Senate, as well as nominees for related agency leadership, understood that SBIR is an essential and valuable program for innovative small businesses and the country.

In 2017, there seemed to be an uptick in tech companies looking to connect with the Heartland. Following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, “coastal elites” were left wondering why their perspective on the issues facing America was so different from that of the rest of the country. It wasn’t surprising that tech leaders in Silicon Valley were among those taking a hard look in the mirror, or that they decided it was time to work on bridging that divide.

It was the first time in his career fixing hearts at Johns Hopkins Medicine that David Kass had been asked to diagnose a condition like this: A heart two sizes too small suddenly grows three sizes in one day.

For the residents of Whoville, yes, the transformation was wondrous. But when asked to be the Grinch’s cardiologist, Kass considered what medical conditions might have caused such a change. Never before had he been asked to diagnose a storybook character — but then again, how many storybook characters have cardiac issues?

Giving back as an entrepreneur is a rewarding experience both personally and professionally. The very act of philanthropy is actually at the very heart of the free market philosophy that has driven the growth and success of many entrepreneurs. Not long ago, you may have been in need of a little giving yourself. I've found, in my own experience, that there comes a point in time for every successful entrepreneur to begin thinking beyond their business and start considering how they can impact friends, the community or even the local economy.

From political chaos to cases of sexual harassment, scientists have had a tough year. But there were also bright spots, including approval of a new type of cancer treatment and the detection of gravitational waves from a neutron-star collision.

The most relaxing part of the holiday season is the time spent sunk into the sofa watching Christmas movies, hopefully accompanied by a pile of cookies. It’s peak coziness, as the best Christmas movies often involve quests for romance or identity, a hefty amount of snow and plot lines that wrap up neatly as the holiday nears.

From numerous retellings of A Christmas Carol to the ever-relatable Griswold family bungling up the holiday, some of the best Christmas movies provide comfort during one of the most hectic times of the year. Reliving Emma Thompson breaking down to Joni Mitchell in Love Actually, or ordering a solo cheese pizza to honor Kevin McCallister in Home Alone only enhances the holiday.

2017 was a year of pretty extreme highs and lows in leadership. Sexual harassment issues came overwhelmingly to the fore, leading to many perpetrators to pay the price for years of misconduct for the first time. Racial tensions also unfolded on a national scale in ugly, violent, and sometimes fatal ways. Yet amid this tumult we also witnessed many moments of extraordinary leadership. And as Fast Company’s most-read stories of 2017 show, our conflicted political and cultural moment hasn’t curtailed readers’ hunger for making improvements, both personally and professionally.

Image: https://www.fastcompany.com

Happy Holidays from Rich Bendis and the Innovation America Team!