SIU Alumni Feature

Beaded Distribution Company LLC and 40 Below Joe offers an extraordinary product line that includes coffee lover’s favorite coffees and dairy-free creamer beads flash-frozen to ensure a delicious, fresh, and easy cup of Joe every time.

We get down to the science of it all. Our process brews the highest quality Arabica beans and cryogenically (quick) freezes the ultra-fresh coffee into little beads using liquid nitrogen at -320°F. With less than 80 calories per serving, our first brand 40 Below Joe® is vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free, and includes flavors such as French Vanilla, Mocha, Salted Caramel, Hazelnut, Vanilla and House Blend. Our coffee products can be eaten cold with a spoon or can be enjoyed traditionally in liquid form by simply adding hot water to the frozen beads.

Beaded Distribution Company LLC (dba 40 Below Company) was founded by Curt Jones, in 2015, at the Small Business Incubator on Southern Illinois University's campus. 40 Below's manufacturing facility is also on SIU’s campus in the Research Park and employs 15 people. 

SIU Research Park has been an extremely beneficial low-cost solution to our team of entrepreneurs.  The option to lease multiple rooms in the facility has been helpful in launching our ever-growing, nationwide brand. Opportunities provided by the Research Park include no-cost access to advisers who help with financing, packaging, planning, hiring, and business space. Connections to business leaders, community members, professors, and students have helped support our infrastructure. The students have assisted us in the form of internships; this has been a win-win for us as a growing business in that we get fresh perspectives from young minds, and for the students who get to expand on their business, organizational, and marketing skills. 

R&D resources at the Research Park are plentiful as well.  We are able to utilize southern Illinois' workforce as well as natural benefits for the area - like the abundance of area orchards for potential fruit-based products.

Curt Jones is an SIU Carbondale alumni who serves on the board for the SIU Research Park. Curt Jones attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 and a Master of Arts degree in 1986. He founded the iconic beaded ice cream brand Dippin' Dots® in 1988.

40 Below Joe® is sold in 121 retail locations, 5 major theme parks and committed to one baseball stadium as of February 2021. 

The DxR Development Group's roots are academic. Southern Illinois University School of medicine (SIU-SOM) has emerged as a leader in problem-based learning education, and DxR Development Group was created from within that environment.

To meet an instructional need at SIU-SOM related to problem-based learning, J. Hurley Myers, Ph.D., professor of Physiology and Internal Medicine and Kevin Dorsey, M.D., Ph.D.., clinical professor of Internal Medicine teamed up with Eldon Benz, a computer programmer to create a computer patient simulation program that provided students with the ability to practice the patient encounter and gave faculty a record of how each student reasoned through the patient problem. The initial product, although very basic, appeared to have potential value, not only for SIU-SOM purposes, but also for other medical schools who needed patient problem-solving software.

As this interest outside SIU-SOM increased, it became necessary to transfer the software development and marketing effort to the private sector. Accordingly, DxR Development Group (i.e., Myers, Dorsey, Benz) moved its operation to the Southern Illinois Small Business Incubator in July 1992, and it remains at the SIU Research Park today. Our continued process depends on the dedication of each employee to excellence in the development of medical educational software.

The SIU Research Park has helped us with professional space, allowed us to lease additional spaces when needed, then decrease spaces when needed.  They have also helped with professional services, and have given us valuable information to apply for, and to receive grants and loans throughout the years.  They have invited us to participating in their trade shows, valuable educational seminars and office management seminars. The proximity to Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus, consultants, and employees has also been a tremendous help.

In 2021, all DxR employees were SIU graduates bringing expertise to the team in computer science, education, psychology, art, radio/television, and telecommunications.

Brandy L. Johnson is a senior partner at Early & Miranda, P.C. She graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in the Administration of Justice. Ms. Johnson received her Juris Doctorate, magnum cum laude, from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 2003.

Early & Miranda is a boutique law firm that specializes in workers’ compensation defense and civil insurance litigation. It is a minority owned and operated firm that represents a wide range of clients. In 2019, Ms. Johnson was given the opportunity to open and head an Illinois office for the firm. As a disabled individual, finding a location for the office proved to be a challenge. The Research Park was the perfect fit, offering the type of accessible office space, amenities, and support Ms. Johnson required to successfully open an office in Southern Illinois. The support and services offered by the Research Park have aided Ms. Johnson in offering and providing quality legal services to businesses in Southern Illinois as well as throughout the state.

Levee Lock LLC is the company behind the patented process* that is poised to become the new industry standard in levee remediation, pollution control, agricultural waste containment, and underground security reinforcement. Utilizing narrow-trench technology, our minimally-invasive, cost-efficient, environmentally-conscious approach delivers a superior cut-off wall system with limitless applications.  In the past year, Levee Lock LLC has secured three utility patents with a fourth in process.

The Levee Lock team has also partnered with another local company on the Fager McGee Resilient Building Division: Energy Efficiency. Resiliency. Strength.

Utilizing the EVG 3D building process, Fager McGee structures are extremely energy efficient, hurricane-proof, tornado-proof, fire-proof, seismic-resistant, and flood-resistant. Completed structures are monolithic and continuously insulated; we are the tightest envelope on the market (50% more energy efficient than conventional builds). Through corporate partners, we also offer an unmatched list of build enhancements (blast-resistance, EMP shielding, ultra-efficient HVAC).

Potentia Analytics, Inc.™ is a leading provider of innovative SAAS for the healthcare industry supporting healthcare organizations by harnessing the power of cutting-edge data science to drive decision making, efficiency, and profitability, We turn data into actionable wisdom for data-driven decisions and operational efficiency. When building solutions our teams strongly believe in empowering those who work at the frontlines of healthcare.  We view the current pain points in healthcare as the fuel that drives our innovation.

Potentia Analytics, Inc.™ was founded in 2013, originally as R&B Soft, by a computer scientist, Dr. Shahram Rahimi, and a medical doctor, Dr. Sean Bozorgzad. Shahram is a technologist with a passion for healthcare who served over 16 years with SIUC, he was a faculty member and head of the Computer Science department. Sean is a doctor with a passion for technology who also serves as an adjunct professor at SIUC. Both had one ambition: to advance the level of patient care by applying cutting-edge research to solve healthcare problems. In 2018 we receive the award for Top 10 Artificial Intelligence Solution Providers from Healthcare Tech Outlook Magazine.

From our headquarters in Carbondale, Illinois, located at the SIUC Research Park in the heart of the Shawnee National Forest, Sean and Shahram built a team to turn their ambition into reality by reducing the time to market for new technology from academia to the mainstream. 80% of our senior staff have received degrees from or have been affiliated with Southern Illinois University in recent years. 

Our portfolio includes Patient Flow Optimization (Bernoulli Optimizer™), Data Visualization Wall (a Command Center powered by Bernoulli Optimizer^TM), Intelligent Provider Scheduling (Symphony^TM) and enhanced prediction for policy and decision making (Foresight™) as well as an extensive range of Business Intelligence Solutions, advanced analytics, enterprise software development and data warehousing/management/integration. www.potentiaco.com

In 2021, twelve Potentia Analytics' employees were SIU graduates bringing expertise to the team in computer science, communications/public relations, physiology, spanish, and microbiology. 

Maureen Doran, BS, MS, HTL(ASCP) SIUC Alumna and SIU School of Medicine employee 1982-2014
Dawn Grisley, BS, MS Ed, MS SIUC Alumna and SIU School of Medicine employee

Saffron Scientific Histology Services is experienced in histological preparation of animal, human and plant specimens from industrial, veterinary diagnostic, research, and government projects. Our services can be used to confirm a diagnosis, gather research data, or evaluate a disease process.

The Research Park provides us with wet lab space with the necessary safety equipment required to run our business. It also provides valuable business assistance, support and encouragement that has Contributed to our business success