Donate Now
Contact Us
Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP) portfolio company CyberReef offering a free trial of its internet filtering technology to schools implementing online teaching

CyberReef, a technology company located in Shreveport, Louisiana, is offering school districts across the country a free, six-month trial of its internet filtering technology Kids Internet Defense Shield. This type of filtering is required under the federal government’s Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools to move their curriculum from the classroom to online. The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) allocated more than $13 billion for K-12 education. As part of the legislation, school districts can use the money to purchase educational technology for students, especially for low-income students who are part of the digital divide because they do not have access to a computer or internet at home.

CyberReef’s Kids Internet Defense Shield allows schools to give access to only age-appropriate websites, while blocking others on school-provided devices. The filter does not require any special app and is placed on cellular networks as a buffer between the internet and the mobile device being used by the student. CyberReef’s Kids Internet Defense Shield also offers a second layer of protection since all of the encrypted information is housed on the Cloud and not the device.

“Our first technology was a filter for businesses to drive down their mobile data costs,” said CyberReef President and CEO Hilton Nicholson. “We were asked if we could do the same thing for schools with CIPA filtering. We did not anticipate such a huge national demand until COVID-19 forced schools to close. Although we are seeing high demand across the nation, we are especially pleased to be delivering our services here at home in the great state of Louisiana.”

“CyberReef is a great example of the type of entrepreneurs that are succeeding in North Louisiana,” said EAP Executive Director Dave Smith. “Hilton was operating in Mobile, Alabama when we convinced him to move to Shreveport. Since then his company has grown and continues to have a national impact which is highlighted even more by the growing needs of our educational institutions during COVID-19.”

School districts can sign up for the free offer until September 30. There is a small set-up fee with the free offer. For more information you can visit cyberreef.com/free-cipa-offer or contact CyberReef at (318) 497-7230 or [email protected].

About EAP

EAP serves as the region’s startup accelerator and small business resource, analyzing the viability of ideas and products, matching entrepreneurs with informed investors and other funding opportunities and nurturing them through the critical steps toward market. EAP provides a suite of services to build sustainable and profitable companies in North Louisiana. EAP, through NorLEAP, has expanded its services across 21 North Louisiana parishes and spearheads North Louisiana university pitch competitions.

National beverage manufacturer Multipack Services to host job fair for wide range of open positions.
National beverage manufacturer Multipack Services, which packages and distributes beverages for nationally recognized brands, is hosting a job fair Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its Shreveport location.
Multipack is located at 2791 Valley View Drive in Shreveport.

Job titles for open positions include: Quality Manager, Quality Technician, Maintenance Manager, Maintenance Technician, Warehouse Manager, Warehouse Technician, Operations Supervisor, Operations Manager and Packaging Technician.

Starting wages will be $18 per hour and above. Some positions are salaried.

For more information on positions for hire, visit BRFLA.org/jobfair. Candidates should be prepared for on-site interviews.
“This job fair is an opportunity for people to join a new build and a national company at our Shreveport location in our first round of staffing. It’s not an everyday opportunity, and we’re looking for individuals who are high energy and want to start their new career,” said Justin Wilkinson, Vice President of Operations.

Louisiana Economic Development (LED), Multipack Services and regional and state economic development partners BRF, North Louisiana Economic Partnership and the Caddo Parish Industrial Development Board announced Multipack Services’ new location in December of last year.

The company expects to create 141 direct new jobs with an average annual salary of more than $51,000. LED estimated that the project would result in an additional 228 indirect jobs, for a total of 369 new jobs in the Northwest region.

“Multipack is ready to gear up its operation in its state-of-the-art facility to offer a wide range of services, including product specifications and design. The site is expected to produce more than 100 million cans of beverage products per year. We hope that the community is ready to join in on the ground floor of this operation and be a part of this scale-up,” said John George Jr., M.D., BRF President and CEO.

The job fair is sponsored by BRF, Career Adventures and Lagniappe Sourcing Consulting.