In Private
Tecmark spinoff to track 'loyalty' on IDs
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Katharine Grayson Staff Writer
Tecmark Inc. has spun off a new company that will allow retailers to mix loyalty marketing programs and state ID cards.
The new firm, IDLoyalty, has already lined up one customer, a convenience-store chain based in New York. The technology allows consumers to store information, such as how many points they've accrued through shopping regularly at certain retailers, on state IDs such as driver's licenses. Typically, businesses provide consumers with branded loyalty cards.
That can become inconvenient for shoppers, whose wallets end up stuffed with separate cards from retailers, said Brent Harms, who founded St. Paul-based Tecmark and will serve as IDLoyalty's CEO. Tecmark is a loyalty marketing firm.
IDLoyalty's software is used to record rewards points and other data on barcode strips, which are now incorporated into most state IDs. Harms had the idea of marketing such technology for years, but the movement to standardize state IDs after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks inspired him to move forward with creating a business around it.
The company is still in a "major research phase," said Cathy Harms, Brent's wife, who also will serve as an executive at the new firm. However, it is moving ahead with its first rollout in more than 30 convenience stores over coming months.
IDLoyalty is currently funded by its founders. Eventually, the St. Paul-based firm expects to seek up to $5 million in capital to expand the business.
Firm researching new pain drugs
Biotech firm Medisyn Technologies Inc. won a $120,000 grant it will use to identify and develop drugs for treating inflammation and pain.
Medisyn uses software to predict how compounds will interact with one another, which speeds up the process of discovering new drugs. The Department of Defense grant will go toward identifying pain relievers that limit gastrointestinal side effects such as stomach bleeding. Medisyn also will focus on developing over-the-counter drugs, which would be easier to distribute to deployed soldiers. The firm is eligible to receive another grant, worth up to $730,000, if it identifies promising compounds.
The company has researched compounds to help treat a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimer's, AIDS and lung cancer.
Remote Tech triples HQ size
Remote Technologies Inc. (RTI), a maker of home-theater control systems, has almost tripled the size of its headquarters with a move to a 30,000-square-foot building in Shakopee.
The expansion is partly driven by RTI's growth, said Pete Baker, vice president of sales and marketing. The firm has roughly doubled its staff to 30 employees over the past two years.
Founded in 1991, RTI started out manufacturing remote controls. More recently, the company expanded into the home automation market, which covers products that allow users to control everything from home entertainment to security systems from one location. That has been one of the fastest-growing parts of RTI's business, Baker said. "There's a lot of interest in home automation."
kgrayson@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2106
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