Salvation South is inspired by hope and healing and — most importantly — the desire to create a place on the web and a community of people where civil conversation can happen.Salvation South is a publication for people who believe that our region — the American South — actually could become the “beloved community” envisioned by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Salvation South will ask you questions and welcome your answers, because we believe the beloved community can be built only through a persistent dedication to conversation — even, sometimes, with people who disagree with you.

Down South House & Home offers high quality Southern themed home goods with clean, classic designs.

Down South Innovation is my business development firm where I create strategic relationships for clients in the Southeast. Down South specializes in providing innovative companies with access to academic and emerging company innovations. Professionals who are tasked with filling a company’s pipeline need introductions to the best faculty members in academic institutions. Emerging companies with promising drugs and devices poised to go into later stage clinical trials can provide large companies with a steady pipeline of developed innovations. Down South Innovation can keep you connected to the hundreds of emerging life science companies in the Southeastern U.S.Clients: The Bitter Southerner (http://bittersoutherner.com/)The Bitter Southerner envisions a South whose people are known for their creation, innovation and forward thinking as much as they are known for their grace, hospitality and conviviality. The Bitter Southerner exists to support anyone who yearns to claim their Southern identity proudly and without shame — regardless of their age, race, gender, ethnic background, place of origin, politics, sexual orientation, creed, religion, or lack of religion. We focus our work on the two things we do best: telling stories and convening discussions, 24/7 in the online world and every chance we get in the real world — for the sake of the story and for the love of the South.

I created this network when I was the Director of the Center of Innovation for Life Sciences so that I could continue to be a resource to the people that I met in the life science community in Georgia. My job was to help companies move their products forward by providing them with connection to resources and people, but I would often meet companies that did not have a challenge where my Center could help them. I created this network to provide the people I met with late-breaking news and a calendar of events which could be a resource for them until the day came when I could help them.

My year with Georgia Bio gave me the opportunity to create strategic relationships between large pharmaceutical and device companies with Georgia's extraordinary academic researchers and emerging companies. The process involved me reaching out to business development professionals at larger companies and scheduling a day of meetings between the companies and the innovators with technologies that would be of interest to the companies. I was only able to succeed in this project because of the cooperation and deep institutional knowledge of the technology transfer offices at each of our major research universities.

As Director, I connected Georgia companies to academic and industry expertise, commercialization and technology resources, potential investor networks and government agencies. I came to this position as the first full-time Director of this COI. This gave me a lot of opportunities to innovate in a far-flung life science community that ranged from Atlanta to Athens to Augusta. I started this position just as the economy was collapsing. It turns out that this was very fortuitous since the budget cutbacks gave me the impetus to start using social media to provide news and connection to the life science industry. I could use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to provide my connections with the benefit of my research and industry knowledge. This work helped me to synthesize news, trends and opportunities in the industry, turning them into strategic guidance for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. I also created an online network of life science professionals from a variety of backgrounds to create a stronger sense of community between the various sectors in life science innovation. Members have backgrounds in science, business, law, regulatory, marketing, manufacturing and logistics. This network currently has over 1000 members from across the Southeast.

Through this work, I got to glimpse behind the veil of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and see how the patent process works on a daily basis. I drafted specifications and answered office actions for the attorneys and analyzed scientific and technical aspects of prior art and disclosures. I also managed the local industry relationship building responsibilities with the Atlanta business community, and this is where my Atlanta network building efforts really began.

I founded Dr. DaBrain because I wanted to "unbundle" the Sears Chemistry set for kids and their parents. When I was a kid, I tried to do as many experiments as I could from my set, but oftentimes I did not have everything that I needed to do the experiments. I found this very frustrating and wanted to provide children with the experience of opening a Dr. DaBrain product and having everything s/he needed to complete the experiment. I also wanted new and safe experiments that would make children want to learn more about science. This led me to invent a novel crystal growing kit that would grow cross-shaped crystals in gelatin. I was awarded a patent on this kit and got it into very limited release in Wal-Mart. While ultimately not successful, this experience taught me the importance of marketing and how hard it is to do well.

At this firm I used Delphion patent-search technology to analyze patent landscapes to identify trends and opportunities in fast-growth industries for Fortune 500 companies. I also designed an intellectual property education series for innovators and completed the Licensing Executive Society training course.I once advised Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue on the issue of "brain drain" in Georgia using patent data to show the exodus of intellectual property from the state.

This position gave me the opportunity to visit almost all of the 159 counties in the state of Georgia and see the state of education in different parts of Georgia. I got to learn from teachers about their challenges and to help them solve them with our products. I also trained teachers on the educational technologies our company provided them. This work made a deep impression on me, and it continues to influence how I think about innovation and economic development today.

Taught general chemistry to 300 freshman students at the University of Georgia - Athens.