Ray’s Take

Editor’s note: Memphis stands at the threshold of incredible possibility. In this series, New Memphis introduces innovative Memphians who are driving our city forward and forging its future success.

“Just as tapping into an artesian aquifer helped restore the city of Memphis back to health after the yellow fever epidemic in the late 1880s, Artesian Schools Inc. will be the catalyst to restore vibrancy to post-secondary opportunities for students in our community.”

If you look at some of the biggest and most successful companies of our time (think Amazon, Google and Apple), one thing they all have in common is their commitment to properly budgeting for technology. IT departments handle an increasing amount of responsibility as we rely on technology to carry out many day-to-day business functions. In order to remain on the competitive edge of your industry, it’s important to allocate proper dollars, staff and resources to ensure your organization continues running smoothly and efficiently. Here are several tips for creating and maintaining an IT budget:

Paced by $10 million from FedEx, Epicenter Memphis has raised $40 million to support emerging businesses and is pushing toward a $100 million war chest.

Attorneys are often asked, “Should I have a will?” The simple answer is yes. Every adult, regardless of their financial worth, should have a will and estate plan.

Tripp Thompson has been named president of FirstBank Investment Partners, a bank investment division with offices in Tennessee and North Alabama. He succeeds president Bill Reid, who's retiring next year. Thompson comes from First Tennessee Bank, where his 31-year career included managing FTB Advisors since 1999. FirstBank's new regional headquarters will be based at the TraVure office complex in East Memphis.

It’s official. It’s less than 60 days until Thanksgiving. Although you shouldn’t stop your job search when the turkey has been served, hiring will slow down as the holidays heat up. It’s just a fact of life. If you’ve been thinking of finding a new job, this is the time.

Custom-wrapped Nissan Versas loaded with pet food and supplies rolled out Monday, Sept. 24, as part of Hollywood Feed's same-day delivery pilot program in the Memphis area. Hollywood Feed president Shawn McGhee said the Memphis-grown chain is offering deliveries as a convenience for customers.

Part two of a four-part series

There are a jaw-dropping 2.3 million internet search queries per minute. How does Google decide which results you see? How can you get your business to the top of the list? While there’s no free “easy button” for improving your rank overnight, a little knowledge about how PageRank and TrustRank work can take you a long way in your quest for a coveted spot in the first ten results.

With her “glamtique” Ashley Dean-Parson has flipped the concept of boutique on its head. “A lot of times, being a full-figured woman, we would go into a store that we would really, really love and they wouldn’t have a plus-size section or if they did, it was really, really small,” she said. “So, I took that same concept and did it here and did the reverse.”

In about a month’s time, three native Memphians plan to open a version of their upscale Nashville bar in the former Raiford’s Hollywood Disco on Vance Avenue.

Work-life balance is the reason Stephanie Cummings started a tech-enabled personal assistance service, Please Assist Me.

Amber Hayes and Marterrious McClain decided to begin their startup, SecondKeys, in Memphis for two main reasons.

Edward Bogard began designing shoes when he was a kid at Campus School. He spent hours creating his own versions of Air Jordans – Air Bogards – giving autographed copies to schoolmates. He went on to graduate from Overton High School, got his BFA in product design at Savannah College of Art and Design, and was turned down for a job at Nike Inc.

One Beale and Memphis Heritage Inc. pulled back the curtain Thursday, Sept. 20, on the old W.C. Ellis & Sons Iron Works and how at least part of it will fit into a $135 million project where Beale Street meets the riverfront.

LYFE Kitchen at Chisca on Main Street Downtown has closed permanently, and Memphis-based Carlisle Corp. has sold the healthful dining brand to franchisee L3 Hospitality Group in Chicago.

When walking through life, there are bound to be opportunities for improvement. There are two types of people: those who simply complain about an issue and those who actively seek to change it. Ashley Smith, founder and CEO of Artesian Schools, falls into the latter camp.

I poured a second cup of coffee, walked to the kitchen table and opened my iPad, revealing the home screen photo of St. Kitts with the waves of the Atlantic crashing in from the east and the gentle bath of the Caribbean lapping ashore from the west. A road bisects the island, heading south over gently rolling hills toward the southern coast. In the distance, a cloud hovers along the top of Nevis, the sister isle of this two-island nation.

Ray’s Take: According to the IRS, Americans gave more than $390 billion to charity last year and people in the middle to lower income brackets gave the most. You may find this surprising, but research has actually shown that the less someone earns, the more likely they are to give their money away to help others. 

The holiday hiring season is in full swing in Memphis, where thousands of people work to distribute products around the nation and world.

Memphis native Victoria Young, 27, wants to inspire other young entrepreneurs to act now, and figure the how out later.

IKEA will cut its operating hours in Memphis, the retailer’s only U.S. store to reduce store hours.

The University of Memphis president is at it again, pushing for big, iconic structures to define the campus and its surrounding neighborhoods.