Feed My Starving Children’s Focus on Nutrition and Healing Is Global

Feed My Starving Children
Image: fmsc.org

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Enhance Product Development offers a technology-driven suite of product design, sourcing, trade licensing, marketing, and other services to entrepreneurs and developers. CEO Trevor Lambert and the team at Enhance Product Development have developed extensive experience in designing to client specifications, powered by their expertise in engineering and computer-aided design.

The company additionally supports nonprofit organizations that seek to empower others through education and social service. Among the most notable of these is Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), a faith-based group established in the late 1980s.

FMSC now directs missions to provide food and nutrition assistance where they are most critically needed. In Africa, the group supplies children in almost 30 countries. In Asia, its work extends to seven nations, as well as more in Central and South America, the Caribbean region, and the Middle East. Even in parts of the world where development has been greater, many children remain in critical need, so the organization also works in conflict regions in Eastern Europe.

Some experts have estimated that more than 12 percent of people in the developing world are malnourished. That figure soars to about 25 percent in the sub-Saharan African region.

By providing nutritious meals, funded and packed by its volunteers and specifically designed to meet the needs of malnourished youth, FMSC continues to work toward a day when all children enjoy their right to a healthy and secure life.

IHA’s Key Event Promotes Global Brand Connections

International Housewares Association
Image: housewares.org

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Enhance Product Development provides a full range of services to inventors navigating the complex landscape of bringing a new product to market. The company offers prototyping and design help, as well as licensing, manufacturing, and marketing services, to its clients. In 2016, Enhance Product Development was a finalist for the International Housewares Association (IHA) Global Innovation Award.

The IHA presents the Global Innovation Award annually at its International Home + Housewares Show. This event features thousands of exhibitors and brings engineering, design, and creativity together in ways that offer opportunities for increased attention for brands and products. The Global Innovation Award, among the most prestigious of its kind, highlights the features of everyday products that hold the potential to enhance the lives of broad cross-sections of consumers. Submissions for the award typically total in the hundreds.

The IHA exists to bring global buyers and sellers of products together and to promote increased consumer awareness through events such as the annual show. By December 2017, the March 2018 show in Chicago was already sold out.

IDSA’s Two Scholarships Support Graduate and Undergraduate Students

Industrial Designers Society of America
Image: idsa.org

Enhance Product Development, Inc., a product development company based in Minnesota, was founded by Trevor Lambert nearly 10 years ago. The team at Enhance Product Development stay active in the professional community, with many team members belonging to professional groups such as the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).

Beyond providing important information to professionals and granting educational opportunities through meetings, IDSA offers two scholarship programs: the Gianninoto Graduate Scholarship and Design Foundation Industrial Design Undergraduate Scholarship.

The Gianninoto Graduate Scholarship was established by Francesco Gianninoto, FIDSA, a package designer and founder of the Package Design Council. It is offered on an annual basis and gives a single recipient $1,500 to cover graduate fees associated with completing an industrial design degree. Applicants for this award must be in their final year of undergraduate study and be applying or accepted to a graduate school. They can also be currently enrolled in an industrial design graduate program. Recipients must be current IDSA members and cannot have won a Gianninoto Graduate Scholarship before.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Design Undergraduate Scholarship is available through the Design Foundation and grants $1,500 to a recipient to cover undergraduate tuition fees. Like the Gianninoto Scholarship, it is awarded based on the quality of the work sample submitted by students, and applicants must be a member of IDSA. Applicants must also be pursuing an industrial design degree, be a full-time undergraduate student, have at least a 3.0 GPA, and have at least one semester left before graduation.

An Overview of Enhance Product Development Licensing Services

Enhance Product Development
Image: enhancepd.com

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Enhance Product Development provides engineering, prototyping, licensing, and marketing services to inventors and small businesses. Enhance Product Development has helped products gain exposure through mass media outlets, including commercial television networks such as NBC and CBS.

Licensing services allow an inventor or small business to lease their intellectual property (IP) to another organization that handles manufacturing and advertising, allowing the IP owner to enjoy lower costs and risk without relinquishing the ownership of a product they developed. Enhance Product Development’s licensing agreements are designed to be as inventor friendly as possible, generally providing the product owner with a per-unit royalty price for every item sold. Licensing agreements generally cover a certain period of time, though they may instead emphasize a specific territory. A standard licensing deal can also include an upfront advance or bonus payment, as well as a minimum yearly payment to the IP owner regardless of annual sales.

The Enhance team seeks to expedite licensing processes to take advantage of the increasingly shorter product life cycles of the modern marketplace. Product developers receive quality support and worldwide distribution that utilizes previously established brands and market positions.

BIZAA Building a College to Educate Children in Africa

BIZAA
Image: BIZAA.org

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Enhance Product Development helps inventors and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into market-ready products. As part of its commitment to giving back, Enhance Product Development supports the Basic Institute for Zonal African Advancement (BIZAA).

BIZAA is an organization focused on educating children who are vulnerable in Africa. This mission includes children who have undergone child labor, domestic servitude, and been victims of child trafficking. All such situations deny children their right to an education and force them into adulthood at an early age.

BIZAA fulfills its purpose by providing education and technical training to rescued children and youth. The organization is currently raising funds to build a college in Imo, Nigeria. The college, to be named the BIZAA College of Technology and Nursing, will provide rescued youth with technical skills preparing them for work in fields such as construction and tailoring so that they will be able to lead productive lives. The adoption of these skills will also empower them to provide for their families, breaking the cycle of poverty that is responsible for sending many children into street labor.

The first stage of this new college project will require $1,000,000. The organization has raised $200 and has already rented a temporary space to begin classes.

Support a Child with NPH International

NPH International
Image: nph.org

Providing design and licensing services for businesses and inventors, Enhance Product Development has created items that have appeared on shows such as Good Morning America and outlets including CBS and NBC. Alongside its professional services, Enhance Product Development supports charitable organizations such as Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) International.

You can change the life of a child through sponsorship with NPH International. Sponsors (called godparents) have supported more than 3,000 youth per year in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and other Central and South American countries. Sponsorship provides vulnerable children with basic needs and medical care.

In addition to satisfying the physical needs of children, NPH International’s child sponsorship program supplies special relationships that encourage emotional growth. Godparents are welcome to write to their godchildren regularly and to visit them, thereby building a strong relational bond.

For more information about practical details of the sponsorship program or to become a godparent, visit www.nph.org.

BIZAA Prepares for Its First Annual Bags n’ Bling Fundraiser

BIZAA
Image: BIZAA.org

Led by founding CEO Trevor Lambert, Enhance Product Development assists inventors and businesses in designing, engineering, and marketing novel products. Alongside its work as an inventor services firm, the Minnesota-based Enhance Product Development gives back through its support of organizations such as the Basic Institute for Zonal African Advancement (BIZAA).

Focused on improving the lives of those affected by child labor and trafficking, BIZAA is currently working on a project to construct the BIZAA College of Technology and Nursing. When completed, the Nigerian-based college will teach students the skills needed to attain gainful employment outside of forced street labor.

To help raise money for the project, BIZAA will host its first annual Bags n’ Bling Fundraiser on Friday, March 2, 2018. Those at the event will have the opportunity to purchase discounted designer handbags, jewelry, and accessories while supporting an important cause.

BIZAA is seeking donations of gently used purses, scarves, and costume jewelry to be sold at the event, which will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St. Mary of the Lake Church in Plymouth, Minnesota. Money raised through Bags n’ Bling will fund scholarships for students planning to attend the BIZAA College of Technology and Nursing. For more information, visit www.bizaa.org.

UIA Promotes MTC Expo Inventor Pavilion in 2018

 

United Inventors Association
Image: uiausa.org

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Enhance Product Development provides commercialization services to product inventors around the country. In addition to offering design and licensing services, Enhance Product Development supports the work of those in the inventing profession through membership with the United Inventors Association (UIA).

One event that the UIA will engage with in 2018 is the MTC Expo Inventor Pavilion. Hosted on April 25th and 26th in San Diego, California, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, this trade show will be an event within the larger MTC Expo conference for leaders in the Media, Technology, and Commerce industries.

The Inventor Pavilion will serve as an opportunity for inventors to demo their products for a diverse audience of industry professionals, make networking connections, and take the first steps toward retailing their products. The trade show is looking to attract individuals who can present products that simplify daily life for consumers, and any item submitted for consideration must have a working prototype. Submissions for the tradeshow can be made on the MTC website at www.mtcshow.com/inventors.

Invention Licensing Services with Enhance Product Development

Enhance Product Development
Image: enhancepd.com

Enhance Product Development, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minnesota, provides clients with a depth of industrial design and engineering services, from prototyping support to various advertising and marketing services. Enhance Product Development, a two-time finalist at the 2016 Global Innovation Award, also provides assistance when it comes to invention licensing.

The company’s invention licensing services have been designed to leave each client with a clear understanding of the licensing process and how important licensing is to a successful, profitable product life cycle. These inventor-friendly services help clients take full advantage of worldwide distribution opportunities and enjoy recognizable branding partnerships, all while saving money on up front manufacturing and marketing costs.

Product licensing can be viewed as a lease on an inventor’s product. The inventor maintains ownership of the intellectual property in question, but temporarily cedes manufacturing and advertising rights, among other rights, to a company equipped to meet the engineering and distribution needs. Any item sold during the licensing period generates a percent royalty for the inventor, who resumes full rights at the end of the agreement. More information on licensing agreements and services can be found at the Enhance Product Development website, www.enhancepd.com.

Five Licensing Tips and Considerations

Enhance Product Development
Image: enhancepd.com

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Enhance Product Development provides inventors with an assortment of services for product design, development, and commercialization with a focus on professionalism and integrity. Enhance Product Development also offers guidance in understanding the ins and outs of product licensing, which enables a third party to manufacture and/or distribute one’s invention. The following list covers tips and considerations for licensing an original product.

1. Become familiar with licensing contracts. Make sure you develop a comprehensive understanding of the components within a licensing contract, including information about the parties as well as the meaning of whereas clauses, definitions, and grant sections, among others. In addition to grasping these components, you will need to ensure you understand the terms and conditions outlined in the contract before finalizing it.

2. Know the market. Learn everything possible about the market before seeking a licensing agreement, including information about the competition, the potential market size, and the market’s specific needs and expectations. You may also want to research niche markets if your product appeals to a specific area or sub-discipline within a given market.

3. Keep your expectations realistic. Remember that a licensing deal does not guarantee success or immediate results. Refrain from overestimating the power of the brand that acquired the license. Instead, establish realistic expectations based on your knowledge of the market, the licensing brand, and economic factors.

4. Learn selling strategies. Presentation is an important part of seeking a license, and your efficiency in presenting your product’s information can play a major role in your success or failure. Learn effective strategies – both in written and slide format – for presenting and selling your product. Information to incorporate includes market research data, product specifications, competitive analyses, and visuals like diagrams and drawings.

5. Stay abreast of industry news. Do not become lax in research at any point during the licensing process. Research constantly to stay ahead of industry developments and take advantages of opportunities that may present themselves.