Great businesses are rarely built by individuals working alone. Behind most significant entrepreneurial achievements is a set of complementary relationships — partnerships that combine different skills, perspectives, and temperaments in ways that produce outcomes none of the partners could achieve independently. The relationship between Idaho business leader Karl Studer and Jesse Jensen represents this kind of high-value partnership.The...
The transition from individual sales contributor to sales manager is one of the most challenging in any career. The skills that make someone an exceptional salesperson — individual drive, personal charisma, competitive instincts — are different from and sometimes in tension with the skills required for effective sales management. Utah direct sales company Grit Marketing has developed systematic approaches to navigating this transition.The...
Few oil and gas companies earn five-star ratings from the Better Business Bureau, yet Gulf Coast Western has done exactly that. Gulf Coast Western reviews consistently point to three pillars the company credits for that distinction: a customer-first approach, ongoing transparency, and a commitment to long-term relationships with partners and investors.Founded in 1970 in Dallas, Texas, the company began as a modest operation focused on acquiring...
In an industry not always known for client-first practices, Gulf Coast Western has carved out a reputation built on transparency, communication, and long-term partnership. The company's investor relations philosophy is not a marketing afterthought; it is embedded in how Gulf Coast Western operates day to day.A Better Business Bureau Record That Speaks VolumesGulf Coast Western holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau alongside a...
The first Earth Day in 1970 centered on two interconnected challenges: consumption and population. More than five decades later, the Colcom Foundation continues to organize its environmental grantmaking around those same twin concerns. Founded in 1996 by Cordelia Scaife May, the foundation has remained steadfast in its view that lasting ecological health requires confronting both issues directly.Addressing the Population-Environment LinkColcom...
When Gulf Coast Western was established in 1970, it operated as a small oil and gas company with reserves concentrated in Louisiana and Texas. The company's founder built it on the premise of developing domestic resources in areas known for their geological richness. Over time, that foundation supported a much larger enterprise one that now extracts oil and gas across six states and manages operations through a web of joint ventures and...
Forty years in executive roles leaves a person with opinions. Michael Polk, the former CEO of Newell Brands, has spent decades refining his understanding of what the chief executive position demands and what it should look like going forward.Polk shared his views in a January 2025 interview, describing how the role of CEO has shifted and why he believes further evolution is not just desirable but necessary. His perspective draws on experience at...
Land is finite. That observation sits at the heart of much of Colcom Foundation's environmental analysis, which tracks decades of development, agricultural expansion, and habitat loss against a backdrop of a steadily growing U.S. population.The data the foundation presents are cumulative and specific. By 1990, roughly 133,000 square miles of U.S. land had been consumed by human-made structures and surfaces roads, parking lots, buildings, and...
When Hassan Jameel attended the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, he left with a signed memorandum of understanding with Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi — one of the more tangible results of a forum designed to connect American technology with Saudi ambition.The Uber deal commits the two companies to building a next-generation fleet operations platform covering both conventional ride-hailing and autonomous vehicle deployment across Saudi...
Justin Fulcher has a phrase he returns to when describing what separates successful technology modernization from the kind that generates press releases but not results: operational honesty. Understanding how an institution actually functions not how its org chart suggests it functions is the prerequisite for any meaningful change.That approach shaped his work at the Department of Defense, where he served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of...