On Thursday at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Mayor Gary Slagel gave the traditional State of the City address an to assembled crowd of business leaders. He addressed the past year of Richardson as well as future issues.These included Richardson's current economic conditions, as well as recent successes.

News from three Richardson based companies: Nanotech comapny Zyvex is purchased by DCG Systems in Fremont, California. TriQuint Semiconductor is moving some employees to Richardson from Boulder. Sipera Systems Receives Internet Telephony Magazine's Product of the Year Award.

Destiny DeLaRosa brings us a review of two of the local's "favoritist" burger joints in Richardson. This is the first installment of a new series called Echo Picks. In the future we hope to have more residents tell us their Echo Picks.

The Richardson Echo is proud to announce a new section dedicated to the preservation of local Richardson history. The purpose of this section is to preserve and exhibit pieces from local history. The materials on display are all a part of a private collection of printed materials and ephemera. You can contribute to the collection.

The Routh Creek Parkway, Richardson's newest road, opened today with a ribbon cutting. It marked another milestone in the development of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Campus in Galatyn Park.

Eighteen months ago Gerard Ibarra and John Zurawski started BuildWave Technologies, a company to help enterprise IT organizations identify, track, monitor and analyze data. Their work paid off when their company was purchased by iWave Software.

Richardson Regional Medical Center has planned several events in October at its Bush/Renner Campus to commemorate the grand opening of the new cancer center and outpatient hospital. City officials and special guests came together for a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, October 2. The public will have a chance to visit the new facilities during a community open house on Saturday, October 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. In addition, several health screenings are scheduled for the month of October to promote cancer awareness.

Vision Bank of Texas, a local bank in Richardson, has will host a fundraiser for Take Me Home Pet Rescue.(TMHPR) There will be at least nine artists participating in this event and several are from Richardson. All artists will be donating a portion of their sales to TMHPR.

Eltek Valere, a leading power system provider for telecommunication and industrial applications, today announced the V- Series HE, a series of rectifiers offering more than 95% efficient power conversion. The V-Series HE debuts as Eltek Valere’s second product line to adopt high-efficiency technology.

It has been widely reported that an investor bought Promenade Shopping Center. Reports of this appeared in the Dallas Morning news, and the Dallas Business Journal. Actually that claim is slightly inaccurate.

On Thursday, June 26, Lowe’s Home Improvement held the grand opening of its new store on the site of the former Richardson Square Mall. The neighborhood and Richardson leaders welcomed the opening wholeheartedly. A single retail opening might not usually be a tremendous occasion but this one marked the final chapter of Richardson Square Mall moving into the dustbin of memory. It is not only the story of one retail location but it is also a microcosm of the entire saga of the indoor American shopping mall.

Buckingham Storage heard about the emergency at the Food Pantry and decided to take action. They will host a food drop at the location at 500 E. Buckingham Rd.

The City of Richardson and Texas Instruments Foundation announced today a grant of $500,000 from the TI Foundation to the Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts and Corporate Presentations to help fund the center’s much-needed Phase II capital projects. The donation will boost performance capabilities and enhance patron amenities, further establishing the Eisemann Center as one of the leading performing arts and corporate meeting facilities serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Richardson business relocation and expansion activity to date in 2008 has been relatively small in the number of projects but very significant in terms of jobs and economic impact on the community. Major employers like Credit Solutions and Fujitsu Transaction Solutions led the way, bringing over 1,000 jobs to Richardson.

Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. will relocate its North American headquarters to the Fujitsu campus in Richardson, Texas. About 300 Fujitsu employees will begin moving to the master-planned campus during May, with all employees expected to occupy approximately 90,000 total sq. ft. at 2791 Telecom Parkway by June 2. Fujitsu Transaction Solutions will join five other affiliate Fujitsu companies on the campus.

(March 26, 2008) The Richardson Building and Standards Commission accepted the findings and recommendations of the City of Richardson and set a deadline the Ashley Place Apartments to be brought up to compliance or be demolished. As was the case with previous city actions, the owner did not show up for the public hearing. However, several residents spoke up and so did an attorney representing the lender.

DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management hosted a dedication celebration for its new Richardson location. Participants included Richardson Mayor Steve Mitchell, Chamber of Commerce President Bill Sproull, DeVry University Dallas President Kevin LaMountain, DeVry University Center Dean Sheneka Freeman and DeVry University Metro Operations Rob Paul, as well as members of the Richardson business community and DeVry University faculty, students, alumni, family and friends.

The Richardson Chamber of Commerce announced the 2007 Citizen of the Year at the 51st Annual Banquet at the Renaissance Hotel on Wednesday, Feb. 27th. The winner of the prestigious award is the Founder of Zyvex Corporation, the first molecular nanotechnology company, Mr. James Von Ehr.

The Richardson Chamber of Commerce recently announced the winners of its 2007 Volunteer Awards, which recognize outstanding community service efforts within the organization.

At its November 12 regular meeting, the city council rejected, by a unanimous vote, a plan to add condominiums, restaurant space, and further residential near the existing Home Depot. The vote surprised many in attendance, including the developer, who thought the only issue was from traffic concerns near the proposed restaurant space. The council stated protection of the neighborhood, density, and condominium size in its rejection. The developer expressed shock because the plan commission had approved the plan.

Richardson based SNR Labs, a startup company dedicated to smoothly integrating radios with multiple radios, won a $750,000 Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) Award from the North Texas Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization (NTXRCIC).

We have gotten a great response since we unofficially launched a few weeks ago. In this article, we will tell you about our plans for the next few weeks.

DeVry University, one of the largest private learning institutions, is opening a center in Richardson. DeVry will be moving its Plano location to Richardson and hopes to start classes in in January 2008. Not surprisingly it was the strengths of the Telecom Corridor that attracted DeVry to Richardson.