Tech incubator copes with good problem -- rapid growth

When Memphis Incubator Systems, Inc., officials leased 8,000 square feet of temporary office space at Brinkley Plaza earlier this year, they expected it to tide them over until the business incubator's permanent facility became available.

But as Memphis' first large-scale business incubator, MISI has been forced to more than double its temporary space since tenant interest has continued to be strong since MISI was officially opened Jan. 1.

MISI is set to move into 22,000 square feet of temporary office space at Briskly Plaza to accommodate the seven start-up business tenants it currently has as well as future tenants.

The business incubator will move from Brinkley Plaza to its permanent location in a former warehouse at the corner of bishop G.E. Patterson Avenue and Tennessee Street this fall. MISI bought the 76,000-square-foot former warehouse last year.

MISI is a non-profit organization with an initial focus on fostering the growth of technology-based start-ups.

The incubator received $4 million in funding from the Economic Development Administration, City of Memphis, TVA, HUD, Memphis 2005 and private sector investors.

MISI offers business development counsel, support services and office space for new ventures. The national five-year success rate for ventures that begin in an incubator setting is more than 85%, according to the National Business Incubator Association.

H&R Block seeks new image, expanded services

The company that has striven to make its name synonymous with taxes now wants be known as more than just taxes.

H&R Block, which has about 250 tax consultants locally, is the largest retail tax preparation company in the Memphis area. If the company's new strategy pays off, it'll go from tax consultant to year-round financial partner.

In an age where branding campaigns are rampant, the company is launching a new look to go along with its new products and services, marking its first logo redesign in more than two decades.

Although the company is starting now, hanging more than 10,000 office signs can take some time. All signage is expected to show the new logo within a year, company spokesman Sharon Polk says.

H&R Block is also re-organizing names of business units, products and subsidiaries, using the H&R name as a prefix for each. The company, like banks, financial planners and even insurance companies, is striving to be a one stop financial shop, providing brokerage services, annuities, mutual funds and IRAs through locations and its Web site http://www.hrblock.com/.

Cancer-removing surgeons visit Memphis for training

28 surgeons will descend on Memphis next month for one day of hands-on training in detecting and removing cancerous lymph nodes.

The class represents the fifth time in two years that Methodist Healthcare, Inc., has sponsored the continuing medical education class. The concept of removing lymphs is an old one, but the new technique, known as sentinel lymph node biopsy, for many patients can mean removing one lymph, instead of 20.

"We are identifying the first lymph node the cancer has traveled to, to see if the cancer cells have moved," says physician Martin Fleming with Mid-South Oncology Group. "In the past we've had to remove all the lymph nodes and send them to a lab. A lot of times they're all negative, and the patient faces a lot of pain and morbidity."

Instead, a patient with melanoma is injected with a radioactive isotope at the cancer site. These isotopes can be followed, and whichever lymph they reach first is the target for removal. An injection of blue dye makes the node easy to identify on the operating table.

An intense biopsy by a pathologist can reveal whether or not cancer cells are present in the node. If there is cancer, all the nodes can be removed.

"It's 98% accurate, in that if there is cancer spread, it will be picked up in this one node," Fleming says. "If it comes back negative, you can be comfortable that all the rest are also negative."

Research first focused on melanoma, a type of skin cancer, and now is branching into breast cancer because it also tends to involve the lymph nodes at an early stage.

The class will be held Sept. 22 at the Medical Education and Research Institute. These classes typically draw surgeons from an area of eight states. But unlike most continuing education -- often held in places like Jamaica -- participants won't be trying to combine work with recreation, says conference coordinator Janey Carpenter.

"This is for general surgeons, but sometimes we get plastic surgeons, too, because melanoma applies to them," she says. "It's not a party group at all, and we don't plan any social activities. Skills courses like this are a little different from other continuing Ed because it's hands-on. Plus, Memphis doesn't have a great beach."

Chamber markets new digital data product

With the release of its Business Finder information databases the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce has broken new ground in a big way.

The Chamber will offer the half-dozen databases that comprise Business Finder to its members on a subscription basis, and will update them quarterly. The offering comes in the Chamber's September mailing to its members.

The unique software used in Business Finder was developed in Memphis specifically for the Chamber by QlikTech, according to U.S. Account Executive Wil Massey. Nobody else has it.

"We're a Memphis-based company and we wanted Memphis to have this product first," Massey says. Massey oversees all the Sweden-based company's U.S. operations.

Business Finder was created with specialized software QlikTech developed off a patented logic, Massey explains, specifically for the Chamber's needs.

His showing of Business Finder at the June convention of the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association sparked interest among several other chambers.

"Its' a little scary to be on the cutting edge," Chamber vice president Larry Henson says, "because the other chambers are going to be watching us."

Local law firm aids immigrants applying for green card lottery

It's lottery time again for the estimated 9 million people seeking a green card from the U.S. Department of State and Memphis-based law firm Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine is poised to help.

Nearly 3 million of the entries are rejected annually because they are not submitted properly, so the law firm has arranged to handle these submissions for immigrants and would-be immigrants though its Web site http://www.visalaw.com/.

The lottery, officially known as the Diversity Visa program, is held annually to disperse an extra 50,000 green cards to people from nations that are under-represented in the United States.

No form is needed to enter the DV-2002 lottery, but applications must be typed or clearly printed in the Roman alphabet on a plain sheet of paper. The application has to be signed by the applicant and a proper photograph included and attached with clear tape. Then it has to be sent in a properly addressed envelope via regular mail.

"It's a process that a lot of people can do themselves," says managing partner Greg Siskind. "Only one out of five people who go to the Web site actually use us."

The site does allow applicants to download a form they can use to enter the lottery themselves, though as many as 600 will choose to let Siskind's firm handle it. The firm even accepts the $70 payment via the Internet with Visa, Master Card and American Express.

The success rate is relatively high with a couple of dozen clients winning every year, Siskind says. Still more contact Siskind to tell him they won by using the firm's form.

One of the most important things the site does is direct traffic to the firm.

Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine specializes in immigration law and in 1994 was the first such firm to use the Internet to service clients. Half of the firm's business is generated from its Web site.

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CONTACT managing editor James Overstreet at 259-1722, by fax at 526-5240 or by e-mail at joverstreet@amcity.com. Theresa Bechard, Ed Hicks, Sarah Lacy, Morgan Minch, Michael Paulk and Scott Shepard also contributed to this report.

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