General – Page 4 – Swanson Reed | Specialist R&D Tax Advisors

Rubber is the New Diamond with Silicone Wedding Rings

Sure, traditional wedding rings may have their perks: they’re classy, sparkly, attractive, and elegant. But they’re rarely described as “practical”, especially for the average human person who has to cook, clean, shower, work out, and carry out other day-to-day activities with their hands. To adapt these tokens of commitment for more active lifestyles, several companies have re-invented the diamond-encrusted bands to develop silicone wedding rings.

Fixate Designs, for instance, created its patent-pending silicone wedding bands out of a realization that traditional rings were often prohibited at work because of risk for injury. Several of the company’s founders themselves had experienced ring-related injuries, including some that required surgery. “We wanted to rethink, re-engineer, and redesign items used in everyday life that we felt needed to evolve,” Fixate Designs said. Another silicone wedding ring company called QALO was started by two guys who “found themselves newly married, loving their wives but hating their wedding rings.” Similarly, Enso Rings, which has been featured on the show Shark Tank, asserted that ancient Egyptians had used braided hemp to mark their marriage commitment: “It’s the symbol and the practicality that mattered. We made the first Enso silicone ring to bring back comfort, safety and focus to the way we express commitment.”

Typically, these silicone wedding rings are made from medical-grade silicone and are designed with durability in mind. They are hypoallergenic, breathable, and flexible. They do not react to chemicals or acids and are waterproof. They also tend to be more affordable than traditional wedding rings, making them a less of a concern if lost or misplaced. The silicone wedding rings are suitable for a wide range of workplaces – from the office to the construction site – and lifestyles – from the world traveler to the homebody.

Technology tends to overlook ordinary household items, including wedding rings. Did you know research activities related to the development of the silicone rings, whether to improve the product or production process, could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit? If you’re also engaging in activities to improve day-to-day household items, you could receive up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative

Real Estate and Virtual Reality Makes the Phrase “Well this doesn’t look anything like the pictures” Obsolete

As Americans are increasingly transient and moving across states and cities, many just don’t have the time to trek out and scope potential properties. Virtual reality can change that, with a growing number of real estate agents adopting the technology and offering potential buyers a chance to view their future home without even stepping foot on the property.

Martha Johnson, a real estate agent in Dunkirk, MD with EXIT 1 Stop Realty, uses VR regularly with her clients. She records properties, with the listing agent’s permission of course, on a 360-degree camera and stores those videos on a secure online portal for her clients. She also provides them with VR goggles which are connected to a smartphone app so that her clients can take a tour of the property from wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling.

Johnson first learned about the technology during a seminar in North Carolina, where another real estate agent had used virtual reality to assist members of the military relocate and find a new home. She said, “They get their orders and they know ’OK, well in so much time, a few months, I’ve got to be here.’ But, if they’re halfway across the country, or in Germany for that matter, it’s very hard to go look at houses.” Connie Stommel, broker and owner of EXIT 1 Stop Realty, asserted the technology is helpful for those who do not live in the area: “Especially for people that are overseas or long distance, they’re coming in from a different state, so it’s definitely a wonderful tool to be able to offer.” Robert Brown of Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals is also a proponent of virtual reality. “It’s a huge plus, having out-of-state buyers being so familiar with the property before they even get here,” he said. Some buyers have even made an offer before stepping onto the physical property.

For those within a local radius, virtual reality is helpful for busy families and professionals who don’t have lot of time to spare to commute to different properties. The virtual tour is often more efficient than a physical walkthrough. Johnson said, “[Virtual reality] takes me maybe seven minutes in a house. If you’re out with the client, you’re in the house probably for 30 [minutes].” Before virtual reality “a lot of times, in my experience, they walk in and they go ‘Well this doesn’t look anything like the pictures, ’” she explained. Now, clients can’t say that anymore.

Experimenting with virtual reality for real estate and other industries? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and receive up to 14% on your research expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

r&d Real estate Virtual Reality

How Not to Get Away with Murder: The Serial Killer Detector

Each year, five thousand people get away with committing murder in the United States. And it’s likely they’ll strike again. Recognizing that a third of homicide cases goes unsolved, Thomas Hargrove is determined to develop a serial killer detector to find these murderers.

Since 2010, Hargrove, a homicide archivist, has been gathering information from municipal records on murders committed as far back as 1976. His catalogue contains information on 751,785 cases, making it the largest archive in the United States. He conceived the idea of using information to find serial killers while he was working as a journalist. Looking at the data provided by the FBI’s Supplementary Homicidal Report one day, he speculated whether statistical trends could help narrow down the searches. Hargrove told The New Yorker, “The first thing I thought was, I wonder if it’s possible to teach a computer to spot serial victims.”

He began writing code to sift through his catalogue. He started by telling the computer to search for statistical anomalies to vet out “ordinary murders” that arise due to love triangles, gang fights, and robberies. The serial killer detector then aggregates data based on method, geographical location, time, and the victim’s sex to highlight patterns. This code forms the backbone of the Murder Accountability Project (MAP).

Developing the serial killer detector was difficult. Isaac Wolf said, “[Hargrove] would write some code, and it would run through what seemed like an endless collection of records. And we did not have expensive computer equipment, so it would run for days.” From these countless tests, Hargrove was able to narrow down his search parameters to sex, weapon, age, and location. There were certain patterns that emerged, such as women accounted for 70% of serial killer victims. Weapon was typically strangulation or bludgeoning. Significantly, Hargrove found that geographical location offered key insight into tracking down a serial killer. According to a New York City homicide detective, “Serial killers tend to stick to a killing field. They’re hunting for prey in a concentrated area, which can be defined and examined.” Murderers are less likely to act the further they are from the “hunting ground”.

Although not yet perfected, Hargrove’s algorithm has been useful in linking instances of murder to the possibility of a serial killer. For instance, Lake County in Indiana had fifteen cases of women who were strangled to death between 1980 and 2008. Studying the data, Hargrove suggested to the police of the city of Gary, which is located in Lake County, the possibility that these women were killed by the same person. The police rejected his report but four years later, the police in Hammond, a town near Gary, arrested a man named Darren Vann who was found to have been the perpetrator behind the Lake County killings.

There are still limitations to the serial killer detector. For one, it relies on data supplied by municipalities. Some cities are less capable of solving murders and documenting cases than others. The algorithm’s reliance on geographical data also makes it more difficult to find serial killers who travel farther than the typical hunting ground radius. Nevertheless, it’s a huge breakthrough.

Hargrove said, “Our primary purpose is to gather as many records as possible. It’s seductive how powerful these records are, though. Just through looking, you can spot serial killers. In various places over various years, you can see that something god-awful has happened.”

Are you experimenting with algorithms to solve unsolved mysteries like Hargrove? Did you know that your experiments, even the unsuccessful ones, could qualify for the R&D Tax Credit and you could receive up to 14% of your research expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

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Austin-based Banyan Water Makes a Splash in Water Conservation with Technological Solutions

Austin-based software company Banyan Water knows water is essential to human life. It’s integral to our sanitation, energy, food, and health systems yet in the United States, water infrastructure is one of the most underdeveloped utilities. According to the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, nearly 2 trillion gallons of drinkable water was wasted this past year as a result of 240,000 reported water breaks. The infrastructure’s inefficiencies have and will cost Americans, particularly as water rates are on the rise since 2010. An estimated 40 million Americans will lose access to affordable water if these trends continue.

For President and CEO of Banyan Water, Gillan Taddune, upgrading water infrastructure is not enough to mitigate water waste issues. To truly address natural resource scarcity and ensure long-term sustainability, advanced technological solutions are needed. As she wrote on The Environmental Leader last September, “Curtailing water-related risks goes beyond simple smart meters. Additional investment in internet of things-style hardware and analytical software capable of identifying leaks and inefficiencies needs to become a cornerstone of America’s present and future plans for the world’s most precious resource.”

To tackle these problems, Banyan Water has innovated a variety of technological tools to assist commercial users with more efficient, sustainable water management. The company applies smart devices, real-time monitoring, and analytics to help its customers, predominately real estate enterprises, track and control their water usage and cost. For one, Banyan Water provides an irrigation system that helps reduce water use by 50-70% and an indoor monitoring service that notifies of a leak. The company is constantly developing new ways to conserve water.

The company’s customers often highlight a marked difference when implemented Banyan Water’s software services. One of Banyan Water’s recent high-profile clients is the Thacher School in California which is prone to drought and water scarcity. Banyan Water technology allows the school to detect leaks and control usage as well as monitor different variables like plant and soil types and flow rates.

Michael Mulligan, head of the Thacher School, stated, “Implementing Banyan’s technology will be game-changing for the water management on our property, especially during times of extreme scarcity. We will gain significant insight into our campus-wide monthly water usage, prevent water loss through real-time leak detection, and are projected to save more than 11 million gallons of water per year while maintaining the quality of our landscape.”

Since 2011, Banyan Water has helped save over 2.3 billion gallons of water in the United States. This is enough to meet the water needs of more than 16,000 households for a year. The company received the Top Project of the Year Award in the Environmental Leader Product and Project Awards in June 2017.

Developing solutions for environmental sustainability like Banyan Water? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and receive up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

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Luck should have nothing to do with it: Lessons from Hurricane Harvey about Resilient Technology

Restoration projects continue in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey which had devastated Houston’s infrastructure. Although the destruction was not as bad as it could have been, experts believe that with the increasing likelihood of future deadlier storms, the Lone Star state should invest in more resilient technology. Karl R. Rábago, executive director of the Pace Energy and Climate Center, said in regards to the disaster in Houston, “We’ve dodged a bullet. We should honor our good fortune by not relying on it next time.”

This resilient technology should be directed towards flood management, sustainable power, and ensuring that critical services like fire stations and hospitals could continue to operate in the midst of disasters. During Hurricane Harvey, the W.A. Parish Electric Generating Station, one of the largest power plants in America, had been unable to generate power because of flooding. Water had clogged the station’s conveyor belt, preventing coal from moving throughout the plant and from generating electricity. Consequently, for the future, Joshua D. Rhodes, a postdoctoral researcher at Austin’s Energy Institute at the University of Texas, said, “We’re going to design power plants and oil and gas refineries with flooding in mind. Anything you don’t want to get wet, you move up.”

Diversity of power sources are important as well. Daniel Cohan, a civil and environmental engineering associate professor at Rice University, asserts that Texas should invest in other types of power technology, not just coal and nuclear. Cohan does not believe the solution to resilient technology is to have “a 90-day mountain of coal next to the power plant.” Rather, renewable energies should also be considered.

Additionally, microgrids could help maintain the utility grid, especially near critical services. Because they are local, onsite power generators that are disconnected from traditional power grids, microgrids can still supply electricity into neighborhoods even when the main grids are cut off. According to the Department of Energy, “Depending on how it’s fueled and hot its requirements are managed, a microgrid might run indefinitely.”

Are you engaging in R&D to build more resilient technology? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can get up to 14% on your R&D expenses, even if your experiments were not successful. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is Texas’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative

Infrastructure r&d Texas

When Business Insider said In-N-Out, not Whataburger, is Texas’ #1, Texas responded: You don’t mess with the Lone Star State or its Whataburger

Business Insider announced yesterday it has identified the most popular fast food chains in every state, with Chick-fil-A sweeping most of the country. However, when Texans saw the article’s map, they quickly noticed a major mistake: the article dared to claim that In-N-Out was the Lone Star State’s number one, not Whataburger.

Texans stormed Twitter to express their disagreement and highlight the flaws in Business Insider’s methodology. Business Insider had collaborated with Foursquare, a local search-and-discovery app, to gather data by dividing the number of food chain locations in a given state by the total number of visits to each chain. However, the visits were based on who had checked into the restaurant via Fourquare and not using other metrics. Critics of the study argue that Foursquare is not an accurate source to support Business Insider’s rankings because the app’s popularity has decreased significantly in recent years.

Others pointed out that in terms of number of restaurants alone, Whataburger surpasses In-N-Out on all counts. The latter is a newcomer to Texas, arriving on the scene in 2011, and is concentrated only in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio with a total of 35 restaurants. Whataburger, on the other hand, has hundreds of locations throughout Texas, with nearly 200 in Houston, 150 in Austin, and 134 in North Texas. Whataburger first started in 1950 by Harmon Dobson in Corpus Christi and has expanded to nearly 670 locations in Texas. Whataburger is famous for its distinct burger design: the five-inch bun and tasty, 100% beef quarter-pound patty make for a flat, wide burger that doesn’t fall apart when consumed. It’s a Texas classic.

Case in point: in January 2017, a Fort Worth groom was caught on video dancing with a Whataburger during his wedding. The video has gone viral on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CandleLightFilms/videos/1370585132971845/

In 2016, Texas Monthly conducted a blind taste test between Whataburger and four other fast food chains. The result: Whataburger earned 45 out of a possible 55 points and was the clear winner. There’s no dispute: Whataburger in king.

Part of the company’s success is due to Whataburger constantly developing new ways to improve its manufacturing processes and create new food products. Did you know these processes are considered R&D and could be eligible for up to 14% back on the R&D Tax Credit? If you are also conducting experiments to build the next best American food chain, you could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit.To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Who We Are:

Food Technology r&d Texas

The Dallas to Houston Bullet Train: Boosting Transportation and Economic Growth the Texan Way

Imagine a bullet train so fast it could transport you from Dallas to Houston comfortably in 90 minutes instead of driving in traffic for six hours on congested highways. Texas Central Partners is making that dream a reality with construction for the bullet train slated to begin late 2018 and early 2019 and to be completed within five years.

The bullet train would be the first of its kind in the United States. At speeds up to 200 mph, the train would carry 400 passengers to three major stops: Houston, Dallas, and the Brazos Valley Region. Nearly 14 million people travel between Houston and Dallas each year by air or by road, and congestion has significantly increased on the highways since 2012. The Interstate 45 between the two major Texan cities is also known as the second deadliest highway in the country because of its vulnerability for accidents.

Texas Central Partners is building its prototype based on Japan’s N700-I bullet train and Shinkansen system. With its 52-year record of zero fatalities, the N700 technology is known as the safest in the world. Texas’ bullet train will be built on an elevated double-track rail to further ensure public security so as not to intersect with highways and roads. The company’s External Affairs Director Holly Reed explained the state is a test for the rest of the United States: “The project is in Texas, but it’s on a national stage. It’s the right project being done the right way at the right time.”

Aside from the transportation benefit, the bullet train’s construction is expected to increase economic activity in the North Texas area. 10,000 jobs would be created from the renovation efforts alone while another 1,000 jobs would be added to the newly growing American high-speed rail industry. Costs of the project are an estimated $15 billion. Texas Central was adamant from the outset that funding for the bullet train would not come from government grants or subsidies. Instead, it would be financed by private sources. According to Reed, “This is an example of Texas doing things its way. It’s an entrepreneurial-led project being driven by free-market principles.”

Reed added that it follows the spirit of Texas innovation, “It’s a big idea, not any different than the first semiconductor that was built at TI (Texas Instrument) or when NASA put a man on the moon. This is an example of a project that has the principles that made all of those companies great.”

If you are also developing ideas and projects to improve Texas’ transit systems like the proposed bullet train, you may be eligible for the R&D tax credit which could save you up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more on how you can save money, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

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Outdated Shopping Mall Proposed as Dallas Location for Amazon’s HQ2

Last Friday, cities in North Texas submitted their bids to become the home of Amazon’s second headquarters HQ2. To set it apart from the other 50 North American cities vying for the spot, Dallas’ proposals ranged from the practical – such as highlighting the upcoming bullet train project from Dallas to Houston – to the ironic, which suggested the online retail giant take over the location of the Valley View Mall, an outdated shopping mall.

Three Dallas developers, Hillword Urban, KDC, and Crescent Real Estate, had proposed the Valley View Mall location at LBJ Freeway and Preston Road as a potential site for HQ2. With the rise of online retail giants like Amazon, the Mall has struggled to adjust to fluctuating consumer trends in the 2000s and gradually, its major department stores closed one after the other: Bloomingdale’s in 1990, Macy’s and Dillard’s in 2008, JCPenney in 2013, and finally Sears in July 2017. The prospect of Amazon’s HQ2 replacing the Mall therefore adds a symbolic, ironic flare. The Mall is near three airports: Addison, Love Field, and DFW International, making it another appealing option since Amazon had included proximity to an airport as one of its requirements for HQ2. Dallas-based architects from Omniplan have already drafted a design for a 500,000 square foot building for HQ2. If successful, Amazon would move into HQ2 by 2019 and expand the space to 8 million square feet by 2027.

Texas is a prime prospect for HQ2. 20,000 Amazon employees already work in the Lone Star State, making it the third state with the most Amazon workers, aside from California and Washington State. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had announced last month the company’s intention to expand to a second headquarters with a commitment to invest $5 billion to the new city and create 50,000 jobs in the area. The Dallas Regional Chamber is in the process of preparing an executive summary of North Texas’ best proposals to send to Amazon for the company’s October 19 deadline.

Are you conducting R&D projects to build and improve existing buildings like Valley View Mall? You may be eligible for the R&D tax credit and can get up to 14% back on your expenses. If you would like to find out how your company could benefit from R&D Tax Credits, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

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“The future is all electric” – General Motors announces a lineup of electric cars by 2023

Auto industry leader General Motors announced yesterday that it aims to introduce a lineup of 20 electric cars by 2023 with two electric models to appear on the market within 18 months. Mark Reuss, GM’s Executive Vice President of Global Product Development, Purchasing, and Supply Chain, said, “General Motors believes the future is all electric.”

The announcement follows a growing pattern in the auto industry where other major players like Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover, and Mazda are committing to electric cars. Volkswagen and Audi likewise shifted their focus from diesel to electric. This trend is fuelled in part by several countries’ decision to ban internal combustion engines powered by diesel and gas in the future. Countries include China, India, and the United Kingdom.

GM’s lineup will include a broad array of vehicles, from pure electric-powered cars to hybrids and even vehicles using hydrogen-fuel-cell technologies. Traditionally, hybrids with their gasoline-powered engines and electric batteries have demonstrated a safe option to break into the fuel-efficient market. Hydrogen-fuel-cell power, in contrast, poses a greater market risk. This technology involves converting compressed hydrogen into energy and releases only water vapor as waste. However, major improvements to existing infrastructure is needed before hydrogen-powered cars can enter mainstream use. Currently, only California, particularly in Los Angeles and the Bay area, has the infrastructure to maintain hydrogen cars.

Despite controversy surrounding hydrogen power, GM has been working on a hydrogen cell battery since 2015 and hopes to begin production by 2020. Building on its Chevy Bolt electric car technology, GM recently introduced the Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure (SURUS). The SURUS is a hydrogen powered vehicle with a four-wheel drive that runs on two electric motors. GM hopes the SURUS will be used as delivery trucks and even ambulances in the future. There is still of course, room for improvement. As Reuss told The Verge, “Whatever we do, from an electrification stand point, the next version will be better than the version we have on the road.”

Are you experimenting with prototyping different electric and hydrogen powered vehicles? You could be eligible for the R&D tax credit even if you haven’t begun production yet. To find out more on the R&D tax credit, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Automotive Infrastructure manufacturing R&D Tax Research Tax Incentive

U.S. Businesses Are Spending More on R&D Than Ever Before

In 2015, business research and development spending reached $356 billion in the U.S., putting R&D spending up almost 5% from 2014. Not only is R&D in the U.S. increasing, but companies are putting more of their own money into it as own company funding went up 5%. Not surprisingly, manufacturing companies accounted for 66% of domestic R&D.

The R&D Tax Credit is available to any of these companies developing new and improved products and processes, allowing a credit of up to 14% of eligible spending if the following four research criteria are met:

technological in nature;
new or improved products, processes or software;
elimination of uncertainty; and
process of experimentation.

Eligible spending covers payroll of direct labor, cost of supplies and developments, and contracted research services up to three years.

If you would like to find out how your company could benefit from R&D Tax Credits, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

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