Fort Worth Business Press, June 2, 2014 Vol. 26, No. 22 | Page 32

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June 9 - 15, 2014 | fwbusinesspress.com

RadioShack

in partnership to speed startups
WEEK INREVIEW
News briefs from the previous week.

R

adioShack Labs, a new marketing collaboration between Fort Worth-based
retailer RadioShack and product development firm PCH International, has
launched to help emerging companies and
inventors bring their innovations to market.
In an effort to rejuvenate its retail offerings, RadioShack
announced June 5 it will offer select PCH Access companies special retail terms, and create a direct path to up to
2,000 RadioShack stores and preferred positioning on
radioshack.com.
With PCH, RadioShack plans to implement a directto-store model for select products, reducing inventory
requirements and increasing inventory turn in stores.
RadioShack Labs is designed to enable innovative
startups to sell to a significant market and will provide
consumer awareness through marketing promotion as
well as strong retail and online presence, according to the
company..
These products will have a dedicated space in-store by
the end of the year, according to the company..
“It’s long been our belief that innovation and collaboration go hand-in-hand. As we transform RadioShack, it’s
important that we simplify and streamline the channels
that encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to join us
in the retail environment,” said Joe Magnacca, chief
executive officer of RadioShack. “We see so many exciting
consumer products coming from startups and we want
these differentiated products in our stores.”
By later summer, consumers should see products such
as LittleBits, a modular electronics kit, as part of the new
venture.
Officials with both RadioShack and PCH International
said the goal of the partnership is to identify dozens of
new products per year, and to use the PCH Access program to turn concepts into products ready for national
retail.
- Betty Dillard

Walter Dansby, who resigned as Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent on June 2, will
receive $662,398 as part of his separation agreement with
the district. Dansby will also be employed by the district
through Jan. 31, 2015 and collect a salary of about $185
per hour as the “ambassador of public relations,” a newly
created position.
That will bring his overall
financial compensation to about
$900,000.
Dansby voluntary resigned on
June 2 following a four-hour,
closed door session called to discuss his job performance. The resignation was accepted in a 6-3 vote
Dansby
by the Fort Worth ISD’s board. 
In a letter to the community on the Fort Worth ISD
website, Dansby wrote: “This is one of the hardest messages I’ve ever had to write. As you all know by now,
last night the Board accepted my resignation as superintendent of the Fort Worth ISD. After 40 years work-

courtesy photo

Fort Worth ISD sets terms
of Dansby’s departure

RadioShack Labs and product development firm PCH International will help emerging companies and inventors bring their innovations to market.

ing for this District – as a teacher, coach, administrator,
and finally as superintendent -- it’s nearly impossible to
summarize all I am feeling right now. So I am going to
choose to focus on one overwhelming feeling – gratitude.”
Hank Johnson, deputy superintendent of business,
finance and operations for the district, resigned on June
4. He was directly responsible fo r all financial matters,
transportation, child nutrition, staffing, and maintenance
and facility operations.
He joined Fort Worth ISD in December 2009 as the
chief finance officer. He was promoted to deputy superintendent by Dansby in 2011.
“The decision to move to the next stage of my life was
decided in early April,” Johnson said in a news release.

“With the change in district leadership I thought it
prudent to announce my intentions now.”
- Staff reports

American to build new operations
center near headquarters
American Airlines Group Inc. plans to break
ground in the next 30 days on a new Integrated Operations Control center near its Fort Worth headquarters, the company said June 4 in a letter to employees.
According to the letter, American plans to open the
new center by third quarter 2015. The new center is
part of the airlines consolidation of its operations
from Pittsburgh to Fort Worth. The new center will
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