Local Colleges Work to Transfer Technology to Business
By Edelstein, Art
Much of the growth in the technology sector of the Vermont economy will come from the state’s colleges as graduates enter the business world or bring their projects with them. The state’s higher education institutions, especially the University of Vermont, develop new technologies and products as part of their research. Educators say they are pushing harder to make Vermont more technology intensive but their efforts will take time and money.
Domenico Grasso is the Dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at UVM. He sees his school at the forefront of new businesses formation.
“You either have incentives like tax and lifestyle, or infrastructure, other organizations or universities. Incentives are fleeting ways to set up the path. We are trying to build an infrastructure to attract and spin off business.”
Grasso said his path is to hire “the best faculty in the world.”
The school is building in a specific area called complex systems, and “investing all our resources.” The school offers new hires a start up package that “includes enough money to outfit their labs and what they need.” He is also working to “get business to promise to work with them.”
Grasso said as the field of complex systems becomes more mature these faculty members’ contributions would become more apparent.
As to new businesses that may grow from the work at the college, Grasso said his school is still in the early stages of growth and is “looking on the order of a 10-year time frame for new businesses to emerge.” He sees HMOs, financial networks, and FAA flight management benefiting from the complex systems at the school.
“I am very confident in this. But if people are looking for a quick fix it won’t happen.”
Grasso offered a realistic view of what Vermont should expect in the technology business sector.
“If we are expecting to become Silicon Valley we are making a mistake.” He sees the state growing in a proportional manner and said the 2000 worker California company translates to a 32-person firm here.
“You don’t need huge companies here. You can develop small, manageable firms and with our E state initiative you can do a lot of modeling here. On a Vermont scale we can do things.”
Grasso praised Kevin Dorn Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development for his support of the school as it builds “a sector around this holistic engineering approach.”
Dorn, in a prepared written statement for this article said, “The Vermont Economic Development Authority remains the primary avenue for low-cost financing for Vermont companies. Recently the governor and VEDA CEO Jo Bradley announced the July 1st rollout of one of the components of the governor’s 15-point Economic Growth Initiative, an $18 million economic growth program.”
According to Dorn, “Governor Douglas has focused on assisting our knowledge-based and technology businesses, including our growing software development sector; environmental engineering and technology, ‘green economy’ companies including alternative energy, and financial services.
“Under the governor’s budget proposals, we helped provide funding and support for the Vermont Software Developers Alliance that has allowed them to hire an executive director and continue building that sector. We have also provided funding for the Vermont Environmental Consortium to help coordinate and build the green economy sector. The governor also issued an executive order establishing the Vermont Environmental Engineering Advisory Council and funded its mission, which is to grow the engineering sector here in Vermont.”
The Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies is affiliated with UVM and has offices in Farrell Hall. VCET president Dave Bradbury said his organization now has 10 companies up from five a year ago.
Today is the strongest period of start up interest since 1992. Bradbury identified three trends guiding the interest, with the first being lower costs to start a business. Computers cost less and provide “an instant global company from day one.”
Second, was “people in Vermont wanting to control their own destiny by being self employed entrepreneurs.” This was “a function of not having large pillar companies to work in.”
The third trend, according to Bradbury, is “the activities within the colleges here that focus in on entrepreneurship and technology transfer.” He praised Middlebury College, Champlain College, Norwich University, and UVM for “supporting and empowering regional entrepreneurs.”
A trend he sees is in enterprise and consumer software. There is also interest in “clean energy environmental remediation and medical devices and communications such as GPS and mobile communication.”
Bradbury sees tough economic times as “the best time to start a business.” He believes Vermont does a good job of technology assistance, business planning support and encouragement to start a company.
But, in financing the state is not as effective.
“Where we really lag the rest of New England is in the matchmaking and provision of early stage equity into start up businesses.” This he categorized as “the number one impediment to Vermont’s emerging technology sector.”
Cash is tough to come by and is high risk, said Bradbury. Angel investors and venture capital is tight. VCET, he explained, is thus focused on organizing and attracting a large, diverse and sophisticated group of new capital sources to provide new options for growing a business.
In the past nine months VCET has worked to increase the network of venture capitalists that will work with its portfolio clients “so their story is as compelling and robust as possible, so that professional investors, organized angel investment groups, and strategic corporate investors take notice.”
Bradbury acknowledged the tightening of loan money among banks, as a source of capital is hurting.
He said VEDA has partnered with Brook Ventures in Massachusetts to offer mezzanine investment for growing companies. Bradbury explained that while Fresh Tracks Capital of Shelburne, an early stage venture investor, makes 10 investments, the state “needs 100 new investments.”
He sees the challenge as “working with the Vermont Venture Network and others who hope to identify capital to fuel the expansion and success of next generation companies for this generation of Vermonters.”
As to technology transfer from the colleges, Bradbury categorized it as “very strong.” VCET works closely with UVM and he praised President Dan Fogel for “articulating a strong and unwavering commitment to commercializing university research into local high tech and life sciences and biomedical firms.”
This plan, said Bradbury, is working. Of the 10 companies VCET has in its current portfolio, three came from UVM.
Patience is needed in the technology sector, said Bradbury. “Developing the capacity and the ecosystem for new venture creation takes time, capital, political will, it takes risk takers.”
At Champlain College the BYOBiz program run by Bob Bloch in conjunction with the Provost and the Business Division provides mentoring to student entrepreneurs. Now in its second year, the program has already spawned a few graduates into business careers. An early school technology success was Ben Kaufman, whose company, Mophie, makes I Pod accessories.
There are currently 25 student entrepreneurs at the school. BYOBiz provides mentoring and structuring and works with them to develop flexibility in scheduling and courses to accommodate their business careers.
Bloch said being an entrepreneur is a full time job, as is going to school. “We help manage both with BYOBiz-enabled courses.”
Professors are asked to enable students to do the course work on their own company, an example being a marketing plan. With experiential learning emphasized, some students can earn internship credit working at their own company.
“We help them structure and help them function as a student CEO, with a simulated Board of Directors,” said Bloch. He and other faculty are often part of the board. Students do a strategic plan and annual set of goals which Bloch and others advise on. “We advise on the balance issue with their lives going to classes and doing work,” he said.
As to financing, Bloch said his students follow the same track all entrepreneurs do seeking funding from friends, family, angel investors and venture capitalists. The school is working to put together a fund for early seed capital and works with CVAC and micro finance funding.
Norwich University’s School of Engineering obtained a $50,000 grant from the Kern Family Foundation to establish an entrepreneurship program. Students receive instruction in business and professional fundamentals, such as business planning, marketing, and social networking, said Bruce Bowman the school dean.
Bowman said the grant will aid in imbuing students with entrepreneurial skills, but the school will also look to develop innovative technology products.
“We want our students to graduate with entrepreneurial skills so they are successful as engineers, but also develop products that reach the market.”
Bowman sees “a push nationwide for technology transfer to industry and ownership of intellectual property.”
He said there is a financial incentive to the university, and academia recognizes it must provide a more comprehensive education “that includes professional and business skills in addition to technical.”
He sees industry demanding these skills because industry has removed many middle-management positions where once apprentice engineers could learn business skills through experience.
In today’s business climate, he sees younger hires having to be “junior managers at a quicker rate. They need to handle management skills early.”
To finance new technology businesses coming from the college environment Bowman said there needs to be “industry partnerships where the industry finances expenses and helps fund the entrepreneurship program and mentor the students in return for obtaining the technology. We want really active partners.”
Copyright Boutin-McQuiston, Inc. Jul 2008
(c) 2008 Vermont Business Magazine. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.