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Jul 30, 2009 10:00 pm US/Central
N. Texans Survive In '09 By Inventing New Products
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Do you have an idea for a product, but don't know how to get started producing it? In this Survive in '09 report, see how some North Texans are beating the economy by taking their ideas and turning them into cash.
Mendy Hassen has been an interior designer across Texas for the last 15 years. But, the slump in the housing market has left her looking for other ways to make money.
"People are not able to get financing for houses, and so it has just left my phone not even ringing," Hassen said.
Now Hassen has decided to pursue her dream of becoming an inventor. She's patented a product to help teach children to tie their shoes.
"I want to make a difference in people's lives," she said. "This, it helps parents, and it helps kids."
Her "One, Two, Tie My Shoe" system was born from her daughter's frustration in learning to tie her shoes.
"It was just a fight every time trying to get her to do this and she'd get frustrated and go back to velcro," Hassen remembered. "So, I thought I've got to figure out a way to make this a little bit easier for her."
Hassen's Texas-born product is in good company. It joins dozens of other "parent-friendly" inventions created by North Texans looking to beat the recession. Ignacio Perez and Frank Milano - two respiratory therapists from Fort Worth - created the Paci Partner.
"Ignacio and I came up with this idea probably 8 or 9 years ago," Milano said.
The Paci Partner is a sleep aid system for your baby that helps keep their pacifier close and offers comfort, too.
"Working in the nursery over time, we noticed a lot of fussy babies losing pacifiers and their nurses having to get up and give the pacifiers to the babies," Perez said.
And so far, Milano and Perez say their product has been very popular among mothers and children.
"Just in talking with my mom and other moms, everybody said 'Hey, where was this product back when I needed it?'," he said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently began recommending that babies sleep with pacifiers to help combat Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS.
"From like three weeks to whenever they want to get rid of their pacifier," Milano said. "We actually have some customers that their babies are two years old and they still carry it around with them."
You and your child might like the Jing Joe Pad created by Anthony Tong of Denton.
"We came up with this idea when we picked up our child and his back was all wet," Tong said.
The pad is a cooling system for your child's back. It pulls in cool air through the fan on top and pushes it out through vents in the pad circulating air behind your child's back.
"We're actually the first in the market of its kid, so we're hoping that people will find it and like it," Tong said.
These three products, along with several others created by local inventors, were hits at the recent "Best and Hottest Products" event hosted by Metro Moms and Metroplex Baby and Kids.
"We find that these products really address the comfort, the convenience, and the innovative needs that parents are looking for," said Barbara Arnondin, co-founder of Metroplex Baby and Kids.
The "Best and Hottest Products" events happen every quarter giving new inventors the opportunity to showcase their products.
"Really for the smaller guys, it gives them kind of a grass roots marketing boost that they otherwise would take months and lots of dollars to achieve," Arnondin said.
All of the products featured have been rigorously tested and pass all safety standards.
If you have an idea for a product and you need help getting started, click on any of the links below for help.
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: Inventor Resources
Innovate Texas
Texas Inventors Association
United Inventors Association
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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