Co-founder & Executive Director of Independent We Stand Bill Brunelle spends some time discussing the Shop Local movement ahead of Small Business Saturday. Bill also details ways to extend the excitement around supporting small businesses throughout the rest of the calendar.

Gordon van Zuiden got into the home integration industry thanks to his interest and expertise in building strong networks — much unlike his colleagues with heavy audio and video backgrounds. That fact has helped his firm, cyberManor, remain ahead of the smart home curve since its launch over two decades ago.

While spending time and dollars on corporate culture programs may not be top-of-mind for many independent retailers, there’s a very real business case to be made for making such an investment. We sit down with Nationwide Marketing Group’s Director of People Development and Learning Kris Kuester to talk about corporate culture, the role it’s played at Nationwide, and how independent retailers can begin to implement their own culture strategy.

Ten years ago, Richard Glikes founded Azione Unlimited with a vision of helping independent custom integrators and technology professionals thrive as entrepreneurs. His group’s recent merger with Nationwide creates an organization that, with more than 450 dealers, represents the most capable and results-driven whole home platform in the industry.