Connecticut Technology Council

Charles “Chuck” Pagano New Chairman of CTC Board

Charles “Chuck” Pagano, the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the global sports
communications Bristol based giant ESPN is the new Chairman of the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC). He was elected at the January CTC board meeting, the group’s President & CEO Matthew Nemerson announced.  Joining Pagano on the group’s volunteer leadership team for 2013 to 2014 as CTC Vice Chairs will be CTO of the state’s largest medical device company, Paul Hermes of Covidien, serial entrepreneur Andy Greenawalt, founder of Perimeter eSecurity and currently CEO of Continuity Control and longtime board member Tony Allen, founder and Managing Partner of The Impact Group, a leading corporate strategic consulting firm. Allen has co-led the Council’s periodic planning and direction for ten years since Nemerson joined as CEO in 2003.

The Council also re-elected Joe Savage, Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking, Webster Bank and Webster Financial Corporation as the Treasurer, Alan Mendelson, founder of Axiom Venture Partners and a longtime leader in the state’s venture community as Assistant Treasurer and Richard Harris, a partner in Day Pitney, LLPs where he chairs the firm’s technology practice, as the CTC board’s Corporate Secretary.

“Chuck Pagano exemplifies the spirit and best that Connecticut has to offer the world: he grew up here, went to school here and has been part of one the greatest business success stories in the world, without losing any of his passion and concern for his home state,” said Chris Kalish, former Executive Director of the GE Edge Lab and CTC’s chairman for the past four years, who is an IT consultant to the TJX Companies.

Pagano joined ESPN in 1979 and has been part of every expansion and addition to their giant Bristol campus. He has led the sports networks evolution into one of the leading video production businesses in the world and oversees billions of dollars of facilities and operations. A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Pagano received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and a Master of Science degree in organizational psychology both from the University of Hartford and also studies astronomy in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Wesleyan University.

“I am excited about the opportunity to give back to my home state and to bring my experience into areas of economic development and public policy. This is going to be fun and rewarding,” Pagano said.

Tony Allen is a Managing Partner of The IMPACT Group, a consultancy that works with a diverse clientele of international organizations in the development and deployment of strategy and operational performance improvement.  In this role he brings 25 years of global strategic and operational management experience to this collaboration of experienced senior executives from diverse industry backgrounds.  IMPACT has conducted more than 100 projects with clients in 20 countries on six continents providing business transformation consulting to a wide variety of clientele from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies.  He was educated at the University of Maine and studied Business Management at the Swedish Institute of Management, Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and the Fuqua School at Duke University.  He is also a graduate from the Center for Creative Leadership. 

“No one has put his imprint on the Council in the way that Tony has – both by helping us plan, by helping us see the opportunities in front of us and by stressing the role of execution and follow through in everything we do,” added Nemerson.

Connecticut Technology Council Elects 2013-2014 Officers

New Officers Elected at Connecticut Technology Council Board Meeting 

HARTFORD, Conn., Feb 12, 2013 - The Connecticut Technology Council’s Board of Directors elected its 2013-2014 officers at a January 31, 2013 Board meeting. The most significant transition was the election of Chuck Pagano, Executive Vice President for Technology at ESPN, as Chairman of the CTC Board of Directors. Pagano replaces Chris Kalish, who had served as Chairman since 2008. Kalish had been at General Electric’s EdgeLab until 2011, and is now with the TJX Companies as a consultant. He will remain on the Board as Immediate Past Chairman. Paul Hermes, Chief Technology Officer, Surgical Solutions, Covidien and Andy Greenawalt, Co-Founder and CEO, Continuity Control, were elected as Vice Chairs.

Following is a list of the new CTC officers:

• Chuck Pagano, Senior Vice President for Technology, ESPN, Chairman
• Tony Allen, Managing Partner, The Impact Group, Vice Chair
• Paul Hermes, Chief Technology Officer, Surgical Solutions, Covidien, Vice Chair
• Andy Greenawalt, Co-Founder and CEO, Continuity Control, Vice Chair
• Joe Savage, Executive Vice President for Commercial Banking, Webster Bank, Treasurer
• Rick Harris, Partner, Day Pitney LLP, Secretary
• Alan Mendelson, General Partner, Axiom Venture Partners, Asst. Treasurer
• Paige Rasid, COO, Connecticut Technology Council, Recording Secretary
• Matthew Nemerson, President and CEO, Connecticut Technology Council, President

Two new Board members were also elected at the January 31 Board Meeting: Oni Chukwu, Executive Vice President and CFO at Triple Point Technology and Chris Van der Stad, Vice President of Architecture at Open Solutions/Fiserv, Inc.

OP-ED on Innovation Ecosystem

Matthew Nemerson, President and CEO Connecticut Technology Council

Thursday's official launch of a coordinated effort to perfect and manage a state Innovation Ecosystem marks an important step towards increasing levels and success of entrepreneurial activity and new company formation in Connecticut.  What's more, by addressing the subtle but critical role of networks and ongoing attention to the needs of the community of high potential firms it represents a sophisticated appreciation by  Governor Malloy's economic development team about the need for a comprehensive plan to grow jobs with support for innovation at its center.
 
From Eli Whitney in the 1970s to Jonathan Rothberg today  Connecticut has a rich legacy of innovative minds and companies who have built and been part of networks and whole ecosystems that have brought the state not just one company or invention, but billions of dollars of value and whole industries worth of jobs. 

Throughout our history state businesses have successfully adapted to changing local and global conditions and reinvented their products and their companies thanks to the power of establishing world leadership in broad areas of skills and techniques.  The power of networks and connections has been the secret source of our little place in a big global marketplace. 

The state's new brand, Still Revolutionary, is a not so quiet reminder that, while some places are inventing themselves for the first time, Connecticut, from hardware, to clocks, to carriages, to bikes, to aircraft, to new medications has reinvented itself as a global leader in the nation’s key industries in every half century for the past 250 years.
 
But this strength, a clear competitive advantage for Connecticut, has not been fully capitalized on in any meaningful or strategic way over the past few decades. The post-industrial decline of great industries stripped our key cities and the state of key parts of our rich and deep innovation traditions and connections.  The best path to return Connecticut to sustainable growth includes establishing strong networks that align our resources with the digital and information based industries – biotech, finance, insurance, aerospace, media and information systems - that we know can flourish here.  

This is the goal of the new innovation ecosystem effort. This new model is a blueprint for how a state can partner with many parts of the private, educational and institutional sectors to create a dynamic, entrepreneur-responsive environment where innovators can tap into the resources they need to grow and thrive. 

Here’s how it works:

Four hubs will be established in Stamford, Storrs, New Haven and Hartford that will assess all local resources and then work on a case by case basis to connect startups and existing firms with the potential to grow with the people, services, funds and attention they need, when they need it.  The hubs will also share and compare what they have and what they need with the other hubs.  All of this activity – still powered and led by the energy and initiative of Connecticut’s native and attracted entrepreneurs – will be monitored and fine-tuned by the efforts of a team our organization will lead along with the state’s Economic Resource Center.  Nothing and no one will fall through the cracks and scarce resources will be applied where they are most needed.

Studies that our group conducted in 2010 showed that the lack of strong and helpful networks was one of the most sought after conditions among our most successful high growth CEOs. The ecosystem programs will create a true public-private partnership to benefit and drive innovation.  It is a great sign that the Governor and his team have the confidence to allow this to be an organic, learn as you go, bottom-up, innovation community-based effort.

The bottom line for the state and its citizens will be over time an increase in Connecticut’s innovation “output” – the number of new startups and the number of mid-size firms that will be able to invest in innovation to stimulate growth.  Firms from all industry areas will be impacted. This is not picking winners, but laying out a red carpet for those that have the highest likelihood of rapid growth.

This will strengthen the state’s global reputation as a home for innovation.  In today’s world the key is to have companies and people who are destined for success to choose to come or stay here. Only one out 50 firms will be a true fast grower. We need to increase the number of these who want to and can grow in Connecticut.

Finally, it is good to see that Governor Malloy clearly recognizes that a one-size-fits-all approach to economic development does not work. The First Five/Next Five program focuses on large companies and the Small Business Express program provides financing for the state’s small, established businesses.  Now the innovation ecosystem will target our becoming a leader in high growth startups and fast growing smaller firms.  Ironically, Connecticut today has what is probably the finest state supported venture capital program in the country, Connecticut Innovations. The ecosystem will deliver a stream of new opportunities that will be worthy of this key state resource to invest in.

For those of us in the in tech community, the understanding by the Governor and his team that networks and relationships as well as agile and quick signs of support are the currency of growing a modern economy is very good news.  Eli Whitney chose Connecticut to start his business here, as did Oliver Winchester and Igor Sikorsky.  They each saw and said that the environment – the ecosystem – was the best for their big plans.  Together they created networks and relationship we still feel today.  So the networks and connections made now will still be reverberating in Connecticut 200 years into the future. These are the stakes we are playing for today.

Still Revolutionary: Business in CT

CTC Vice Chair, Chuck Pagano, is featured in this great video:

Doing business in CT is Still Revolutionary.

 

Innovation Ecosystem

By Tim Coates

It always takes time for what we know to become what we do. This is true in many areas, but particularly economic development. Recent research from the Kauffman Foundation, an economic think tank, found that job growth comes not from small business, as is often believed. It comes from new companies and is especially pronounced in fast growing companies under two years of age.

For the past three years the Connecticut Technology Council been looking at what this means for Connecticut. From the Council’s Competitiveness Agenda project, it was found that the state has not kept up with our neighbors in terms of how well we help new company formation and growth. That effort, along with the work of many like-minded colleagues, has supported the state in launching an exciting new initiative called the Innovation Ecosystem (IE). Led by Connecticut Innovations and the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Innovation Ecosystem’s goal is to significantly increase the quality and quantity of support for new, fast growing companies in the state.

Given that cities like New York and Boston work because of density, critical mass and rich networks of relationships among diverse people, the IE helps our suburban state act more like a city. Programs are developed and seeded at local “Innovation Hubs” which concentrate activity. At the state level, system management ensures that programs are linked, reinforcing, and everyone stays focused on the goal of supporting the companies with the highest potential.

CTC formed a partnership with the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) and was successfully selected as the IE’s System Manager. We’re responsible for keeping everyone on the bus and keeping the bus travelling in the right direction. The work has already begun. Over the past several weeks we’ve been working with leading organizations from across the state to launch a dynamic system that can diagnose and quickly respond to the needs of the state’s most promising new companies. There’s still a lot of work to do before an official ribbon cutting. But in a state like CT, where home rule is often the default approach, efforts thus far have already proven that more is possible when we work together. It’s a project that could become a national model for technology based economic development.”

Bigger Than Chicago and You’ve Never Heard of It…

The CTC’s Matthew Nemerson travelled to China this March with a delegation from Connecticut including Marcum LLP senior partner John Schuyler who is also chairman of the Connecticut – US Commerce Department Export Council, senior staff from CT Innovations, a partner from Wiggin & Dana, LLP and Daniel Drew, the new mayor of Middletown.  Unlike most trade missions, the goal was not to sell products per se, but instead to seek direct investments from Chinese government and private entities that are looking to purchase or take positions in American firms with technologies that are of interest to the Chinese.  Quite a turn of the screw from 25 years ago when Connecticut first set sail for China with an official trade mission led then by Governor William O’Neal. The hope in 1987 was to land big contracts for manufactured goods to sell or make them – inside in a growing country. Now, with trillions of US dollars on hand in various types of organizations and a growing group of internationally savvy investors, China is a legitimate and huge source of venture capital. 

Along the way if the companies can find partners to exploit growing Chinese markets that is more upside, but for the forty or so firms – some CI portfolio firms, others clients of Wiggin & Dana or Marcum and seven established CTC members – were all being pitched as if this were the old CVG Crossroads event.

Eighty government officials and curious investors showed up in Jinan City, Shandong Province and two days later nearly 100 were on hand in Shenyang, Liaoning Province – a bulging city of 4 million with a software incubator itself larger than a few northeast corner Connecticut towns. 

CTC firms represented by Matthew included Axxun, Directedvision, i-Mark, Secure RF, Spot On Networks, Tribute Creations and VR Sim.  All of the companies seemed to be of some curiosity to business people in the two audiences, but no deals have been completed to date.

In addition to the meetings and presentations, the delegation was shown the site of a newly planned 1.7 million person “Bio-Tech City” in Liaoning province. Still under construction, it will be complete in five years time, together with a 180-mph high-speed rail connection to Beijing.  They sure seem to do things differently over there!

 

 

CTC Open House May 3, 4:30 pm in East Hartford

CTC invites you to join an open house celebrating the magnificent contributions of Paige Rasid during her seven years here as Marketing, Communications & Operations Director.

Please join us for a send-off party in her honor at CTC Offices in East Hartford.

Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:30-6:30pm

RSVP to Ann Discenza, [email protected]
860-289-0878, x345

Paige will be joining Connecticut Innovations as a program manager in the CT SBIR Office where she will continue to help CT tech companies!  

Announcing Girls of Innovation 2012 Science Challenge

Registration is open for The Girls of Innovation Science Challenge  for girls, grades 7 & 8, to explore science and it's challenges in a fun, interactive way.

There is no fee for the students to attend, but they must pre-register here and get confirmation from CTC.

About the program:                                                           
An offshoot of CTC's Women of Innovation program, Girls of Innovation inspires today's middle school students to consider studies in science and technology-related research, health services and business areas.

Our sponsor, Covidien Surgical Devices and volunteers actively encourage Connecticut's talented young women to prepare for key roles that will enhance organizational innovation and achievement. We thank them for their support of this effort.  

When: Saturday, June 9 - 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Where: Connecticut Science Centre , 200 Columbus Blvd., Hartford CT

 

To know more about the event. Click Here

 

 

Matthew Nemerson talks to WNPR about crowdfunding

Entrepreneurs all over the country are buzzing about crowdfunding. A new federal law will make it possible for small companies to attract investors online. But not everyone in Connecticut is thrilled about the new rules. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Earlier this month President Obama signed into law the JOBS Act, a measure with rare bipartisan support.

 Matthew Nemerson, President of the Connecticut Technology Council, says this new law could potentially speed up the pace of innovation.

“I think what we’re really doing here is reducing some of what have become very onerous costs of going public. And I think we’re looking at pools literally of billions of dollars around the country and around the world that are looking for new technology to invest in.”

To Read the Entire Transcript Click Here.

For more information about Crowdfunding: Click Here

 

 

CTC's, Matthew Nemerson Speaks to WNPR from Jinian, Shandong Province, China

Harriet Jones of WNPR reports: Shandong is Connecticut’s sister state and Matthew Nemerson, CEO of the Connecticut Technology Council is among a few of the original delegates from the first mission back in the 1980s to have returned to Shandong this week.

“A very small and hopeful state 25 years ago. Now a larger economy than Germany, it seems.”

Speaking to WNPR from the city of Jinan he says business meetings have been proceeding alongside diplomacy.

For the entire Transcript click here

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In the news: 3/14/2012 article by David Krechevsky, Republican-American -
State, feds to promote Conn. firms during trade mission to China The Republican-American.

3/14/2012 Back to Shandong Province - Opportunity for Tech Firms

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