MAM
W+K to start programme to help creative entrepreneurs
MUMBAI: US-based advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy (W+K) plans to reach out to ‘creative entrepreneurs‘ who want to start their business and offer them infrastructural support, networking opportunities and guidance from in-house experts.
The call for entries will start from next week and the people eligible are those below 30 years and belonging to creative pursuits such as theatre, art, design music and the like barring advertising.
Eventually, W+K also plans to take a stake ranging between 10-20 per cent in the new business. The agency plans to choose four people looking at starting their creative enterprise.
The mentoring programme will have brands, technology, popular culture and creative entrepreneurship come together for new businesses. The agency will also help the individuals reach out to a wider network of people.
The idea had hit off in December when the agency decided to help those who wanted to start a business but did not have the necessary means and wherewithal to do so.
Globally the agency has had their Portland Incubator Experiment (P.I.E) which was a collaboration between W+K and tech entrepreneurs.
The agency, which is headquartered in Portland, started operations in Delhi in 2007 after merging with creative agency ‘A‘ founded by Mohit Jayal and V Sunil. It has clients like IndiGo, HCL Technologies, InterGlobe, Heineken and Royal Enfield.
Brands
Trump announces $300bn Texas oil refinery with Reliance, calls it the biggest in US history
First new US refinery in 50 years planned at Brownsville port with Reliance
WASHINGTON: The United States may soon see the first brand-new oil refinery built on its soil in half a century.
Donald Trump announced a proposed $300 billion refinery project in Texas, calling it a landmark moment for American energy production and jobs.
Posting on Truth Social on 10 March, Trump said the facility would be built at the Port of Brownsville and developed by a company called America First Refining, with major investment from India’s Reliance Industries.
The announcement frames the project as a centrepiece of the administration’s push for “energy dominance”, with Trump claiming it would deliver thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity to South Texas.
If realised, the plant would mark the first all-new major refinery constructed in the United States since the 1970s. In recent decades, oil companies have largely chosen to expand existing facilities rather than build new ones, citing high costs, regulatory hurdles and environmental scrutiny.
Trump described the proposed investment as the “biggest in US history”, positioning it as proof that policy changes such as streamlined permits and lower taxes are drawing large-scale energy investments back into the country.
The refinery is planned for the Port of Brownsville, a strategic Gulf Coast location that provides easy access to shipping routes and export markets.
A key partner in the project is Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani. The company already runs the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, India, making it one of the most experienced operators in large-scale petroleum processing.
The Texas venture would mark a significant step for the group into America’s domestic refining sector, potentially strengthening industrial ties between the US and India.
The proposed refinery is being promoted as a next-generation facility capable of processing American shale oil while maintaining high environmental standards. Trump said it would be “the cleanest refinery in the world”, although the specific technologies behind that claim have not yet been detailed.
Industry observers also note that the $300 billion figure is unusually large for a refinery project, and analysts are waiting for more clarity on whether the number reflects total construction costs, long-term infrastructure investment, or broader economic impact estimates.
As of 11 March, Reliance Industries had not publicly confirmed the investment size or the structure of its involvement.
For now, the announcement has sparked equal parts excitement and curiosity in energy markets. If the plan moves from promise to pouring concrete, the refinery could reshape the Gulf Coast energy landscape, and reopen a chapter in American refining that has been quiet for nearly fifty years.
