Connecticut Technology Council

Business Incubator Revs Up at Fairfield University

Up to five local entrepreneurs will get to launch their businesses at the new Fairfield University Accelerator and Mentoring Enterprise when the business incubator program starts up in September.

A collaboration of the university, the Fairfield Economic Development Department and Kleban Properties, the effort offers budding innovators access to discounted services, technology resources, workshops, start-up funding and mentoring from Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business faculty and the area's business community.

The first group of entrepreneurs will be chosen by a panel in a competitive selection process. Panel members will represent the university, Kleban Properties, the town of Fairfield and the area business community.

Construction of the 1,300-square-foot facility, located above the off-campus Fairfield University book store at 1499 Post Road, is under way. It is designed with an open area to promote a collaborative environment, as well as with meeting rooms.

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Start-up companies play a key role in creating jobs and spurring innovation, according to Mark Banhart, Fairfield's director of community an economic development, who said that he expects some of the entrepreneurs to apply for micro-entrepreneur grants offered through his department.

"There's a tremendous wealth of talent and entrepreneurial people in Connecticut, and we'd love to have them come to Fairfield," he said.

For sponsorship and application information, email [email protected]. To apply online, visit www.fairfield.edu/ame.

 

This is an excerpt from Richard Lee's article from the Stamford Advocate.

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Connecticut’s Entrepreneurial Community Wants Your Ideas

      


The following is a press release from Connecticut Innovations, the Department of Economic and Community Development, and CTNEXT:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Connecticut Innovations (CI) and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) are seeking creative ideas to improve and strengthen the state’s effort to build a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Connecticut. The organizations have issued a Request for Proposals to help Connecticut further engage in innovation. The RFP is open to individuals, large and small companies, non-profits and consortia—from within and outside the state—with a proven record of success and creative ideas to develop the infrastructure and community necessary to support entrepreneurs. The state will invest up to $5 million over the next year in this initiative, called CTNEXT.

A winning proposal will include ideas to:

• Create pathways for entrepreneurs through which events, ideas, technology, industry expertise, services, skill development, talent and capital are easy to find

• Help innovative companies grow faster

• Improve entrepreneur connections with universities, economic development organizations and other private and public resources

• Engage Connecticut’s larger innovative corporations with the entrepreneurial community

• Help Connecticut increase the volume of the success stories it can celebrate and share

CTNEXT, a public-private partnership, has already established great momentum. To date, it has helped fund 11 entities and engaged dozens more to enhance local networks of support for entrepreneurs and connect those networks strategically statewide. And excitement and activity in the entrepreneurial community has reached new heights. In the past eight months alone, over 5,000 people attended more than 150 entrepreneurial community events, and several new co-working spaces were established or expanded.

Still, CI and DECD recognize that there are great ideas that they haven’t heard about which could strengthen the state’s culture of innovation while supporting a platform for addressing today’s toughest challenges.

“Connecticut is rich with innovative individuals, researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs, companies, investors and the organizations that support them.  We are looking for ways to help this talented population be part of a world-class entrepreneurial community,” said Claire Leonardi, CEO of CI.

“If you have ideas, experience and the commitment to develop the infrastructure and community to support entrepreneurs, we want to hear from you,” said Catherine Smith, Commissioner of Economic and Community Development.

For more information or to submit a proposal, visit build.CTNext.com.

Contact:

Casey Pickett Director of Innovation   Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development   860-729-2210 [email protected]

Chris Penner Director, Investments   Connecticut Innovations     860-257-2163 [email protected]

Transportation Secretary Visits New Haven to Talk Trains

"Connecticut’s infrastructure is our oxygen. We can’t live as a state without investment in our roads and our bridges and our rails,” spoke Senator Chris Murphy yesterday afternoon in New Haven's Union Station, alongside his senior Senatorial colleague Richard Blumenthal, Governor Dannel Malloy, and all five of the State's federal representatives, including first term Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, Connecticut's only delegate to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  Murphy is keenly aware of the importance of a healthy transportation system in our state, and it is both exciting and relieving to hear the entire suite of our elected officials acknowledging this reality.

Despite the relatively small size of our state, we're home to a string of important centers and hubs from the New York adjacent panhandle, to New Haven and the seaboard, north through Middletown, Hartford, and the entire river valley.  The ability to transition smoothly from town to town, city to city, is a vital and often daily necessity for most businesses in Connecticut, as well as noncommercial necessities.

The need for fast, reliable, safe, and affordable transportation in Connecticut swells when its realized that our State does not function in a vacuum and that so much of our lives here are interconnected with the operations of New York, Providence, Western Massachusetts, and the greater Boston area.

With this in mind, Senator Blumenthal asked former Charlotte, NC mayor Anthony Foxx in May to visit Connecticut promptly after his confirmation as Secretary of Transportation (where he was unanimously approved by the Senate) on June 27th.  Foxx kept his promise and made New Haven his first visit as Secretary.

While some of the rail infrastructure in the Northeast more than a century old, an a train collision on the Metro North line just a few months past, the time for federal acknowledgement of what we in Connecticut have known for quite some time fell on appreciative ears.

Secretary Foxx articulated the importance of the Northeast corridor rail line, "the busiest railroad in America," but was not specific about his exact plans to make improvements, additions, or updates.  He established safety as a primary concern, but left anyone hoping to leave his speech with hard facts and figures a little empty.

Nevertheless, State officials are optimistic.  They see the Secretary's visit, only a month into his term, as a strong indication of his commitment to improving Connecticut's rail system.  Governor Malloy voiced plans to remain a "squeaky wheel" in Washington to ensure federal funding comes through to assist in the revitalization project, the plans for which can be found here at the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Rail Program's official website.

This visit follows closely on Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker's appointment to Chairman of the Northeast Corridor Commission in June, for a two year term. 

Hopefully, the NEC Commission, a recent Congressional creation, working closely with the State and Federal officials, will lead to a safe, efficient, reliable, convenient, and sustainable system of public railways in our corner of the world.  Until then, it would be wise to follow the Governor's advice, and remain a squeaky wheel.

Map of proposed line.

Air Force Announces New Grant Program

 

Through their Young Investigator Research Program, also known as YIP, the US Air Force plans to award 30 grants to qualified recipients and their respective institutions of learning during the 2014 fiscal year.  The grants, expected to be approximately $120,000 per year for a period of three years, will be rewarded to young scientists, engineers, and other researchers who have obtained a doctoral degree not before May of 2008 and are conducting innovative investigations in disciplines that can be classified as Air Force related fields. In the case of an exceptional proposal, or perhaps several exceptional proposals, the breadth of the grants can be flexible in terms for alloted amount and contract duration, according to the official release.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research describes the following categories as being relevant to Air Force academic research:

• Dynamical Systems and Control

• Quantum & Non-Equilibrium Processes

• Information, Decision, and Complex Networks

• Complex materials and Devices

• Energy, Power, and Propulsion

All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply, but are reminded that the application process closes on September 15th.  The application is available online at the Federal Business Opportunities website. More information about this program is available at Grants.gov, along with a abundance of other federal grant opportunities.  If you are an academic whose research doesn't fit this criteria, but are nevertheless seeking funding, the grants.gov site, maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services, can be a valuable resource.

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Looking for Innovative Ways to Find Great Talent in CT?

The HR Leaders Collaborative is hosting a special Human Resources Leadership Summit on Friday, September 27th.  Leaders and talent from throughout the state will be assembling in Westbrook for The People Paradigm: Releasing the Potential for Growth & Innovation to be held at the Water's Edge from 8:00am to 5:00pm.

Come join the event on the shore to discuss and learn about hiring, productivity, community building, and a many other topics that make a huge impact on the work being done here in Connecticut every day.

To sign up for the event at a temporary discounted rate, click here by August 9th.  Regular price tickets will continue to be available after that date, but space is limited, so don't delay in signing up!

 

Realizing Start-Up Potential Requires Patience, Perseverance

The following is an editorial by UConn Ventures President R. Mark Van Allen from the Danbury News-Times.

 

Alexion Pharmaceuticals recent groundbreaking on a new $100 million headquarters is the centerpiece of New Haven's landmark initiative to reconnect the city's neighborhoods. It is also a glimpse at the process of achieving "overnight success" in the technology transfer field -- in this case, a success story that began modestly two decades ago.

We have an opportunity not only to reflect on Alexion's humble formation, but to look ahead to companies that currently reside, or will soon, in the portfolio of UConn Ventures-- now a pivotal player in determining Connecticut's future research-driven entrepreneurial standouts, grown from the labs of our state's flagship university.

Alexion began in New Haven's Science Park in 1992 in the shadow of Yale University. It was little more than an idea of what might be achieved by scientific discovery and an early commitment to guide and grow that potential. Slowly at first, buffeted by setbacks, uncertainties and halting progress, Alexion began to gain ground. They stuck with it. In time, they outgrew their small New Haven space and moved to Cheshire, where during the past decade, spurred by the discovery and development of Solaris, they have spectacularly become among the world's most innovative and successful biopharmaceutical companies.

History could repeat at any moment at UConn, as the university redefines and revitalizes efforts to encourage entrepreneurial discovery. More than anything, we need the collective patience to sustain an effective pathway to commercialize scientific discovery and stay the course. Such cutting-edge efforts rarely hit paydirt overnight, but as Alexion demonstrates so dramatically, solid growth and new ground can, overtime, be achieved.

UConn Ventures, aligned with the University's Office of Economic Development, creates business start-ups by seeking out university-based research innovations, guiding the development process, soliciting funding and recruiting management. It is a subsidiary of the UConn Foundation. Financial benefits achieved by the resulting start-up companies accrue to the individuals whose research innovation is at the core of the start-up, and UConn.

Just two months ago, the university named Alphachromics as the "Top UConn Start-Up Company" at annual awards ceremonies attended by state business, academic and government leaders, reflecting a revitalized university-wide commitment to commercialization initiatives.

Alphachromics was formed in 2010 by UConn Ventures to commercialize the electrochromic innovations developed in the lab of Greg Solzing, professor of organic and polymer chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and the Institute of Materials Science. The technology changes the light transmittance properties of a substrate by the application of voltage and/or current.

The company's low-cost color-changing conductive polymers can be applied to products as diverse as energy-efficient windows, tunable eyewear (goggles and sunglasses) and high-performance switchable fabrics. Alphachromics is currently working with development partners in industries including eyewear and apparel to develop and adapt their technology for use in a range of high-volume consumer, commercial and military applications.

And just last month, LambdaVision Inc., a bio-tech start-up launched by UConn Ventures, received a pre-seed funding commitment of $110,000 from Connecticut Innovations.

LambdaVision is developing a high-resolution, protein-based retinal implant intended to restore sight and improve the quality of life for the millions of people who have been blinded by photoreceptor degeneration in the outer retina -- specifically, individuals affected by age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

The company's core technology was developed by Robert Birge, Ph.D., a UConn professor of biological and physical chemistry, who, along with students in his lab, founded LambdaVision in 2009.

There are other examples in the UConn Ventures portfolio, at various stages of development. Led by a distinguished and experienced Board of Directors with significant industry background and entrepreneurial expertise, the staff of UConn Ventures works closely with faculty to evaluate their research. It is an exacting task, fraught with perils but brimming with potential.

Working together, we navigate each stage of development, as UConn Ventures provides structure, direction and momentum to the evolving process in critical areas: developing the business model, aligning the intellectual property assumptions, raising the necessary capital, and recruiting key management personnel. Beyond start-up guidance, UConn Ventures also provides back office support, in areas including accounting, legal, tax, and human resources.

Every aspect matters, and integrating effectively and efficiently can be the difference between a near-miss and a solid start.

In accepting well-earned accolades, Mark Bertolami, CEO of Alphachromics, observed that the company "hopes to establish a performance track-record that rivals the UConn women's basketball team." Just the day before, they had won their eighth national championship.

There was a time when such accomplishment was seen as remote at best, more than likely impossible. As with Alexion, by staying the course, investing wisely, and methodically putting in place the necessary talent, admirable success has been achieved.

As UConn Ventures and the would-be entrepreneurial enterprises that turn to it for direction respond in the years ahead, patience and perseverance with our collaborative endeavors will similarly prove to be virtues in the pursuit of realizing great possibilities.

R. Mark Van Allen is president of UConn Ventures.

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Here at the Connecticut Technology Council, we love social media.

It's a great way to stay connected with a wide array of individuals, organizations, and business- no matter how far they may be in physical space- and to do so at a speed much faster than was ever possible just a few years past.

Hopefully, if you're reading this blog, you already follow us on twitter, see our stream on flickr, watch our channels on YouTube and Vimeo, and like us on Facebook.  (But if you don't, you should!)

Last week, we launched our Instagram account (@CTTechCouncil), so that we can share event photos as they happen, from our tablets and smartphones, straight to yours.  So if you use the app, as 130 million people worldwide do, please give us a follow to keep an eye on what we're up to!

 

 

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New Bill Looks to Boost CT Exports

Since its creation last spring, the Department of Economic and Community Development has been pleasantly overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to their Small Business Express program. The program, outlined on the department’s website, provides expedited loans (in amounts between $10,000 and $250,000) and grants (up to $100,000) to Connecticut businesses who maintain fewer than 100 employees and are seeking to grow.

The abundance of applications, anticipated in the original legislation, necessitated a variety of criteria upon which the DECD will give priority to one aspirant organization over another. The program’s charter called for prevenience to go to companies creating new jobs and/or operating under a few “economic base industries,” such as “precision manufacturing, business services, green and sustainable technology, bioscience, and information technology sectors,” according to the program’s website.

On Monday, Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law a new bill that will add an additional criterion for prioritizing a business’ push for loans and grants from the DECD’s program: “businesses attempting to export their products or services to foreign markets.”

The program’s change demonstrates cognizance of the state’s strength in fields such as advanced manufacturing, bioscience, IT, and more, as well as Connecticut’s growing role as an exporter of goods. Last year, $16,000,000,000 worth of goods left the state for foreign markets. Connecticut is currently tenth in the nation in exports per capita, according to the Governor, and is looking to climb the ranks even higher.

An official release can be read on the Governor's website, and companies looking to apply for the Small Business Express programs can do so online, in person, or by mail.

SummerTech on the Rooftop Deck 2013

Thank you to all who joined us at the SummerTech on the Rooftop Deck - for being an active part of growing entrepreneurship and tech community.

The rain stayed away long enough for our SummerTech event to become what, in the words of one guest, "was the best event of the year so far."

SummerTech was truly representative of the community we have in CT. By engaging with it -- and contributing to it -- we get better.

We make meaningful connections, deepen relationships, and generate new ideas.

Special thanks to Hotel Zero Degrees, BevMax and master mixoligist, Robert J. Cordisco for sponsoring the event, providing the amazing venue and unique refreshments. Your support made this a special event for everyone involved.

Keep the dialog going and let us know what you think by submitting your feedback. You can also check out more great event photos on the CTC Flickr.

See you soon,
Keith, Paige, Peter, and Tim

Business Council of Fairfield County  @BCFairfieldCo
Connecticut Technology Council  @CTTech
Stamford Innovation Center  @StamfordiCenter
CTNEXT  @CTNEXT

West Hartford Industrial Design Studio Reimagines The Light Switch

A small team, working from a smartly cluttered design studio at Legrand's offices here, wants you to think about your light switches.

Beyond their important work, do they really express who you are, like a color of paint or type of cabinet handles? The problem, the team comfirmed, was that for most people they don't.

Legrand, which recently released a new line of sharply designed light switches, found that when people remodel — spending dozens of hours and thousands of dollars honing in on the perfect hue of paint or the styling of tile or the design of cabinets that fits the sensibility their ideal home — they overlook the light switch.

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In the West Hartford facility, known as Legrand Wiremold, about 550 people work, some manufacturing electrical components and others in corporate functions.

Wiremold, once a company unto itself, was founded in Milwaukee in 1900 and expanded to West Hartford in 1914. In 2000, Legrand, a French industrial group, bought Wiremold for about $770 million, putting its North American headquarters here two years later.

 

Read Brian Dowling's entire article from the Hartford Courant.

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