Dave Franchino, president and principal of Design Concepts, and Ken Martin, president and CEO of Sadra Medical, presented “Leveraging Innovation Partnerships in Emerging Medical Device Development.” On July 28th, 2009, Martin and Franchino spoke to the membership of LifeScience Alley, a Minneapolis-based trade association with a membership of companies involved in all aspects of life scienes.
Design Concepts’ staff, families and friends are joined together and took to the road to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For the second year, the Design Concepts’ team rode The Scenic Shore 150 Bike Tour July 18 and 19, 2009. The two-day cycling event takes riders along the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline covering 150 miles from Mequon to Sturgeon Bay, WI.
Stefanie Norvaias, Design Concepts’ director of strategy and research, shares insights into the importance of design thinking in an article for the Association of Professional Design Firms’ Design Biz publication.
Lippert Component’s Tow-N-Stow Receives the 2009 National Hardware Show’s Retailers’ Choice Award
Tow-N-Stow was awarded the 2009 National Hardware Show’s Retailers’ Choice Award. The award recipients are selected by retailers and showcases the most promising products – products retailers want to see in their stores.

Dave Franchino, president of Design Concepts and one of the founders of Sologear, LLC, recently spoke at the conference Beyond Firewood: Exploring alternative fuels and energy technologies in humanitarian settings. Beyond Firewood, an international research conference organized by the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, took place in New Delhi, India, December 11- 12, 2008.