To make rare earth magnets in Texas, Scott Dunn first went to China to learn the trade. His route home runs through scrap metal, an overnight factory shift, and a business built to give manufacturers another place to buy.

Before Kailynn Bowling helped brands win attention and shelf space, she had to earn both for her own. The ChicExecs co-founder built an agency around the questions other entrepreneurs kept asking.
A Texas chemist set out to make food packaging transparent. Then he wondered whether the wrapper could go straight onto the fruit - and turned decades of clay research into Nabaco.