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Four visionary companies snag Innovation Awards
Excerpt from Portland Business Journal Printed Edition, InnoTech Conference
Guide pg. 6, April 7, 2006
Technology knows no boundaries as it indiscriminately changes the
landscape regardless of industry segment.
Advertising, exotic metal alloys, auto dealers and Spanish-language tutors
from Guatemala are all fair game for disruptive – and that’s good in this case –
technologies that show us new ways of achieving old goals.
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SPEAK SHOP
Want to learn Spanish? Buy yourself a dictionary, enroll in a community college
class if you have time, buy CDs to listen to in the car; or, better yet, move to
Mexico for a year and force yourself to learn the language. Or, sign up with
Speak Shop.
The company, which was launched last year, provides users with an online
network of private Spanish tutors located in Guatemala. The independent tutors,
many of whom are working their way out of poverty, set their own rates and hours.
Students get access to tutors who already are immersed in Latin American culture.
And Speak Shop gets revenue from student membership and franchise fees.
By the end of its second year, Speak Shop expects to be at the break-even point.
Founders Clay and Cindy Cooper both have experience in Latin America and
international management experience. They are targeting individuals and
institutions such as colleges and universities, government agencies and
corporations.
One user who came back from a Central American vacation with the realization
his Spanish skills needed polishing, said he was “amazed. Talking with people
who live in the country gives you a flavor you just can’t get from a book, CD
or even a Spanish class.”
Speak Shop’s founders are particularly proud of the link between their success
and the economic success of their tutors. “Through technology, trading networks
and micro-entrepreneurship, Speak Shop delivers a scalable model that promotes
community economic development in impoverished areas.”
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