Michiana Technology NewsWire

IEDC Announces NCI Grant

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:23:38 GMT

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Grant Funds Effort to Link Patent-Rich Region with Job-Creating Businesses

ELKHART, Ind. (Aug. 1, 2008) - Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nathan Feltman announced today the state's plans to invest $100,000 over the next two year in a program here aimed at linking the region's patent-producing businesses and academia with manufacturers and marketers in the region who could transform new technologies into new jobs for Hoosiers.

The two-year grant will provide funding to the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center located in Elkhart to boost efforts to link businesses and entrepreneurs in Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, Marshall and St. Joseph counties with technologies and innovations that have the potential to create new jobs in the region.

"Elkhart and the surrounding area have a long history of innovation and routinely produce more patents per capita than any other region in the state," said Governor Mitch Daniels. "By linking the innovations from the region with companies who can transform the technologies into jobs, we will strengthen and further diversify the region's economy."

As part of the effort, the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center will augment their online listing of patents and companies (http://www.michianatech.org/) by hiring a professional to actively identify research from the state's research universities and find companies who could use the new technologies to expand their company's product offerings and workforce.

"An economic development strategy in today's world would not be complete unless it includes innovation, new ideas and new business ventures," Daniels said.

The North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center plans to announce the hiring of the selected professional in the coming weeks who will be charged with bolstering the organization's efforts to link businesses in all of the region's industries with innovations that could lead to new job-creating ventures.

"Proactively identifying opportunities to link companies and researchers together to develop new innovations will increase the technical base of our region," said Philip Penn, president of the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center.

The grant is part of the state's Regional Economic Development Partnership Program first announced in 2007. The program, operated by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, provides matching grant dollars to multi-county efforts aimed at creating and implementing initiatives that increase regional competitiveness in job creation, workforce development, entrepreneurship and the development and targeting of industry clusters.

"This program encourages communities to think, plan and act regionally," Feltman said. "We know that when companies make expansion decisions, they consider the regional assets, including the regional workforce, infrastructure and cultural amenities. Therefore, it is essential that each region clearly understand and market their regional strengths when going after new economic development opportunities."

The program builds upon the importance of regional networks and collaboration as noted in the state's economic development plan released in 2006, Accelerating Growth.

About IEDC
Established under Governor Mitch Daniels in 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation is governed by a 12-member board chaired by Governor Daniels. Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nathan Feltman serves as the chief executive officer of the IEDC. Since the creation of the IEDC, the state has posted three consecutive years of record-breaking commitments for new jobs. For more information about IEDC, visit www.iedc.in.gov.

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Article from NIPSCO EDC Newsletter 22 Feb 2008

Fri, 02 May 2008 13:10:50 GMT

Elkhart Technology Park is All Technology

There is one thing you won't find at Elkhart County's new technology park. The park!

The Michigan Regional Technology Homepage is the next generation — it's a virtual technology park. You'll find it in cyberspace at www.michianatech.org. The site is sponsored by the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center (NCI) and the Technology Council of Elkhart.

The "park" lists companies in the Michiana region (including southern Michigan) that employ unique technologies, methodologies and equipment. Jim Walsh of the NCI describes it as a cluster of technologies that can constantly re-invent itself, attract customers, and give the region's manufacturing base an edge versus the traditional brick-and-mortar park. About 80 companies have already registered.

The foundation of other tech parks — the university — is equally represented. And in the virtual park, there is not just one, but a whole region of colleges to choose from. Purdue University and Notre Dame have posted their technologies on the site, such as "Plasmodium Proteins Useful For Preparing Vaccine Compositions" and "Novel Algorithms for Computer-Aided Material Design." Purdue eventually expects to triple its listings. Indiana University should be online soon, with other regional colleges to follow.

"Universities need us to market their technologies," Walsh said. They are seeking businesses that can use their technologies and want to form partnerships.

Walsh expects that with more development, the virtual park will provide direct links between companies and universities.

The Michigan Regional Technology Homepage
www.michianatech.org

North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center (NCI)
574-293-3209
jwalsh@elkhart.org

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SBIR Grant Enhancement Program

Fri, 02 May 2008 13:10:34 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 1, 2008) - A program aimed at accelerating the development of new high-tech products for the federal government could mean new jobs and opportunities for Indiana’s small businesses.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation announced today that it is accepting proposals for its commercialization enhancement program, an initiative that provides up to $350,000 in grant monies to businesses participating in the second phase of the federal government’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program.

"This initiative allows us to help Indiana small businesses accelerate the development of market-changing products for use by federal agencies and high-tech industries across the country and around the globe," said Nathan Feltman, secretary of commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "By encouraging the development of innovations in Indiana, we are commercializing new technology that has the potential to translate into more high-paying jobs for Hoosiers."

Indianapolis-based engineering firm Wolf Technical Services, Inc. is the latest recipient of the grant program and is representative of the type of high-tech business the program is built to assist, Feltman said.

The company is in the final stages of developing a new restraint system for military aircrew members. The company’s Universal Mobile Aircrew Restraint System replaces the fixed-length tether currently used in aircraft with an energy-absorbing system that allows crewmembers to move freely while keeping them safely tethered. Under normal conditions, the tether pays out and retracts freely, but when crewmembers experience a radical aircraft maneuver or hard landing, the system engages an energy dampening system that uses the weight of the crewmember to ease them to a safe position.

"The grant enhancement program has enabled us to accelerate the development of our restraint system and pursue early commercialization opportunities," said Mark E. Lewis, vice president of Wolf Technical Services, Inc. "These funds will allow us to complete final-stage environmental testing, flight testing and additional development work to make the device production-ready."

Applicants interested in pursuing the grant funds must have an existing federal Phase II Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer grant that is at least 50 percent expended and apply online by Feb. 29, 2008. Details and applications for the program are available online at http://www.in.gov/iedc/files/ISCEP_2008-1_v2.pdf

Funded by the state’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, the commercialization enhancement program is one of several state efforts aimed at boosting the success of Indiana small businesses and entrepreneurs. An early phase federal grant-matching program established in 2003 and funded by the state’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund has assisted more than 80 Indiana small businesses begin the federal research and development process. In addition, the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, has directly invested more than $65 million in 51 high-tech Indiana entrepreneurial companies since January 2006. Those businesses, which expect to create more than 6,000 new jobs, have leveraged the fund’s grant monies to raise an additional $150 million in private funding.

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Technology Council Chairman Interviewed on Comcast Newsmakers Program

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:31:29 GMT