To Watch the Cazoodle Interview: CLICK HERE

Cazoodle was established in August 2006, as a startup company from the University of Illinois (UIUC). The goal of the company is to make web-search broader and deeper, by accessing data beyond the reach of current search engines. The company was co-founded by Prof. Kevin C. Chang and it is supported by the University of Illinois with transfer of technology from the MetaQuerier projects.

The company’s mission is to help users make their decisions more efficiently such as when they're looking for apartments for rent, or deciding on which products to buy. In such situations, users often end up spending hours and hours checking on possibilities spread across dozens of websites. Cazoodle’s search engines aggregate information from thousands of online sources, creating a one stop-destination for users to quickly navigate through all their possible choices.

Kerris Lee is a great ambassador for Cazoodle and shares his passion for the technology while telling the story of a young start up company that just may soon be a household word to all of us!

A Man For All Seasons

I had the privilege of interviewing the new CEO of Provena Health for the TV show "One on One" Click HERE to Watch the Show.

Mike Brown is President/Chief Executive Officer of Provena Covenant Medical Center and Provena United Samaritans Medical Center.

Mike Brown was recently promoted to Regional President and CEO with oversight responsibility for both PUSMC and PCMC. A key aspect of Mike's new regional duties will be leading PUSMC and PCMC through the opportunities and challenges that will come about with Health Reform, including optimizing the synergies between the Urbana and Danville physician relationships and the clinical offerings. An accomplished healthcare executive, Mike joined Provena in 2005 as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nurse Executive at PUSMC before being promoted to President and CEO in 2008. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Executive Officer at Hoopeston Regional Health Center, Hoopeston Illinois. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, and an MBA in Organizational Leadership and Management from Franklin University in Columbus, OH.

The Human Face of Business

The mission of Human Kinetics is to produce innovative, informative products in all areas of physical activity that help people worldwide lead healthier, more active lives.

Through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) the company is largely owned by its employees!

Human Kinetics’ aggressive product output demands a productive staff, but the corporate mission of helping people lead healthier, more active lives also permeates the atmosphere at the Champaign headquarters. Fitness classes and exercise equipment draw employees to the workout room throughout the day, and rain-free days ensure pick-up basketball or tennis games in the courtyard. Other employees frequently join together to walk, and most take advantage of healthy subsidized meals in the acclaimed HK Café.

Employees are empowered to run committees that address community service, wellness, and social aspects of the company.

Brian Holding is the CEO of Human Kinetics, the world’s leading source of information on physical activity and based here in Champaign. Brian has been the CEO at Human Kinetics for the past 13 years after joining Human Kinetics in 1987. Throughout his career at HK, Brian has been involved with consumer product acquisitions, sales and marketing, and the development of international operations in England, Canada, and Australia. Before joining Human Kinetics, Brian was an acquisitions editor with Prentice Hall based in the New York City area. Brian is a journalism graduate of the University of Illinois and spent 7 years as a journalist before getting involved with book publishing.

To watch the entire TV interview with Brian Holding click here: WATCH TV INTERVIEW

Father of Invention-Dennis Coleman of IsoTech labs

Dennis Coleman was raised in northern Wisconsin and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He completed an M.S. degree at the University of Arizona in Tucson and a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. From 1970 until 1995 he was on the staff at the Illinois State Geological Survey where he held various research and administrative positions. While at the ISGS he established a stable-isotope laboratory and conducted numerous research projects on the geochemistry of natural gas.

Dr. Coleman pioneered the use of stable isotope analysis to identify natural gas that had leaked from underground gas storage reservoirs and in the early 80’s developed an active consulting business applying that technique. To provide analytical support for that business, he and three colleagues founded Isotech Laboratories, Inc. in 1985. Since that time Isotech has grown to a staff of 42 scientists and support personnel. In 1995, Dr. Coleman retired from the Illinois State Geological Survey to devote full time to the operation of Isotech.

Isotech has become the primary laboratory utilized by the oil and gas industry for the isotope analysis of natural gas because of its reputation for high quality data and because of its development of IsoTubes® for collection and shipment of gas samples collected during the drilling of oil and gas wells. IsoTubes®, which are produced exclusively be Isotech, have become an industry standard throughout the world, simplifying the collection of samples and increasing the application of isotope geochemistry to oil and gas exploration.

In 2007 Isotech opened the first of its three Satellite Laboratories in Cairo Egypt, followed by Rio de Janeiro in 2008, and Perth Australia in 2009. The instrumentation installed in these satellite facilities is actually operated via the internet by scientists in Champaign. Isotech has thus been able to export its services without exporting jobs. A fourth Satellite Laboratory is scheduled to open in Oman later this summer, with plans for several more expansions in the near future.

Isotech became the largest privately owned stable isotope laboratory in the world and on June 6 of this year was acquired by Weatherford International, a company with over 50,000 employees in over 100 countries, and the fourth largest service company in the oil and gas industry. Isotech provides Weatherford with unique analytical capabilities not offered by any of its competitors. And Weatherford provides Isotech with a large network for the expansion of its Satellite Laboratory concept.

Dennis Coleman is also the founder of CU Woodshop Supply, Inc., a unique new business that supports his hobby of woodworking. This business offers a retail store that sells woodworking tools, machinery, and supplies as well as both domestic and exotic hardwoods. In addition, half of the 15,000 foot facility on Parkland Court in Champaign is The DreamShop, a state-of-the-art workshop. Working somewhat like a cross between a timeshare and a country club for woodworkers, stockholders in CU Woodshop Supply have access to the DreamShop for their personal use. To watch the entire interview with Dennis Coleman click the following link: WATCH DENNIS