State Grant Backs Transforming UConn Research into Start-Up Companies

UConn Ventures and the University of Connecticut’s Office of Economic Development (OED) have been selected to receive a state grant to provide technical assistance and training for small and medium sized businesses.  The $220,000 grant was awarded by the Department of Economic and Community Development as part of the state agency’s Economic Development Grants Program. UConn Ventures will apply the state funding in support of its mission to seek out university-based research innovations, assess their commercial potential, and provide resources to address the management, market, and technology associated with launching a new venture.

The initiative aims to help migrate technologies developed in UConn’s research labs, including the UConn Health Center, to support early-stage companies and small business expansion.  UConn Ventures will work with research faculty in providing technical assessments and direct support that result in product development, testing and creation as well as fundable plans to launch either a new business or a new product or process.   UConn Ventures will focus use of the grant funds on efforts to:

• support work to develop data, prototypes and test both technical and market relevancy in order to deploy new technologies and processes,
• expose academic scientists to industry processes, experts and needs, thus impacting the course of future research in ways that will support industry and the economy,
• engage Connecticut entrepreneurs and industry members from small business who may be potential investors, owners, licensees, CEO’s, or champions,
• establish and further relationships that will support and advance a culture of innovation in Connecticut.

Plans call for two levels of financial support to fledgling companies under the program: 1) to assess and mitigate technical and market risks of a technology, and 2) to commercialize projects that have established proof of concept and identified a commercialization path.

“Our work is all about innovation, entrepreneurship, and scale,” said R. Mark Van Allen, President of UConn Ventures.  “We seek out university-based research innovations, assess their commercial potential, and provide resources to address the management, market, and technology risks associated with new venture formation.  We appreciate the state’s support of our work, and the reinvigorated commitment of the University and the Department of Economic and Community Development to help us to accelerate business creation and development.”

UConn Ventures, aligned with the University’s Office of Economic Development, creates business start-ups by guiding the development process, soliciting funding and recruiting management based on technologies invented by UConn students, faculty and staff.  It is a subsidiary of the UConn Foundation.  Financial benefits accrue to the individuals whose research innovation is at the core of the start-up business, and UConn.

“The Office of Economic Development is committed to applying resources in ways that will better support technology transfer and industry partnership,” said Mary Holz-Clause, UConn Vice President for Economic Development.  “UConn Ventures offers precisely the expertise and experience that is essential to successfully commercialize great research and great ideas, and their organization will play a pivotal role in building future successes.”

More information about UConn Ventures and the Office of Economic Development is available at www.uconnventures.com.

Antiques Trail May Be Mapped Across Connecticut

State legislators are considering the establishment of a Connecticut Antiques Trail, an effort to highlight the state's numerous antique shops, and boost tourism and economic development along the way. The proposal, by Sen. Rob Kane of Watertown, follows a 2009 initiative in which he worked with the state Department of Transportation to erect signs along Interstate 84 to highlight a collection of antique shops in his district, the Associated Press reported.  As part of that effort,  the town of Woodbury was designated as the “Antiques Capitol of Connecticut," centered around a local trail that features more than 35 diverse shops.

Highlighting the scores of antique shops throughout the state has generated other initiatives. Ed Dombroskas,   the current executive director of the Eastern Regional Tourism District (billed as “Mystic Country” ) and a past state tourism director, supports the statewide plan.  His organization recently put together an antiques brochure for his region and received thousands of inquiries seeking copies.  The brochure Mystic Country Antiques Trail, includes 30 locations across Eastern Connecticut and is now available on-line.

Antiques shops – and some larger antique stores – blanket the Connecticut landscape, each noting their particular attributes and history.  The Connecticut Antiques Center, in Stamford, for example, touts its easy access to New York City.  Kane said it makes sense to expand the trail statewide to connect more antiques dealers with collectors, comparing the plan to the Connecticut Wine Trail.

Just this past weekend, the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington held an antiques and heirlooms appraisal day featuring a regular from the PBS program “Antiques Roadshow,” telecast locally on Connecticut Public Television and a perennial viewer favorite.  And the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show, celebrating its 40^th anniversary, was held earlier this month, March 16-17, at the Hartford Armory.

After-School Network Highlights Accomplishments, Fights for Budget

The lengthy corridor between the State Capitol building and the Legislative Office Building routinely hosts informational poster displays on its walls, in two-week cycles, from a broad range of agencies, organizations and associations, highlighting their work and the impact it has on the state.  Reservations for the space are routinely made weeks in advance. One of the current displays, coordinated by the Connecticut After School Network, comes at a time when they – like many other nonprofit organizations and state agencies – are facing a potential budget cut from the state, at the urging of Gov. Malloy.  Ultimately it is the state legislature that will determine the parameters of the budget, a debate underway throughout the Capitol complex amongst legislators who pass by the posters each day, with messages and statistics that are hard to miss.  Among them:

• After-school programs cut the risk of juvenile crime by as much as 75%
• In Connecticut, 19% of children under the age of 18 experience food hardship.  Many rely on the meals they get at school and in after-school programs as a primary source.
• $1.7 to $2.3 million is saved by putting one high-risk youth on the right path.
• 73% of working parents miss less work when their children attend an after-school program.
• Students in after-school programs are 50% more likely to finish high school
• One in five Connecticut children (21%) regularly spends time after school unsupervised. This translates to more than 80,000 Connecticut children
• Children and youth involved in after-school programs have fewer absences from school.

March 7 was “After School Day at the Capitol.” The organization released a major report "Supporting Student Success in Connecticut: A BluePrint for Expanded Learning Opportunities".   The report calls on the state to make “7 smart, strategic investments,” reflecting that “after-school not be an after thought.”  The recommendations include addressing the issues of summer learning loss, incorporating expanded learning opportunities into the state’s education reform strategies, increasing alignment between systems and funding sources, rethinking the relationship between time and learning, and strengthening quality and accountability.

Their website currently features a petition urging restoration by legislators of the $4.5 million proposed cut and is promoting the organization’s 7th Annual Literacy Essentials Conference, to be held on Saturday, April 6 in conjunction with Central Connecticut State University.

The organization’s web site also points out that “every dollar invested in after school programs will save taxpayers approximately $3, not including the savings from reduced crime.”

The Connecticut After School Network is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization originally founded in 1989 and incorporated in 1990 under the name Connecticut School Age Care Alliance (CSACA). In 1990, CSACA became affiliated with the National School Age Care Alliance (now the National After-School Association).

Following similar action by the national organization, CSACA changed its name and broadened its mission in 2006, becoming the Connecticut After School Network.  It is a partnership of individuals and organizations working to ensure that every Connecticut child and youth will have the opportunity to participate in high quality, affordable after school programs.

The State Department of Education is a significant partner and major funder of the Network, providing leadership, support and technical assistance. SDE also oversees the CT After-School Advisory Council which provides advice and direction to the Network.

Efforts to Close the Digital Divide Prompts Company Move To Hartford

GreenShare Technology is a company that takes its mission – to bridge the digital divide by providing technology to those who cannot afford it – quite seriously.  That is plainly evident in their move from Farmington to new, larger headquarters at 1200 Park Street in Hartford. The new, 2,000 square foot location doubles the company’s space, allowing GreenShare Technology to bring more affordable computers and computer maintenance services to Hartford and surrounding areas. The company plans to provide basic computer training and computer recycling services on-site. The new location will also contain a retail section where customers can try out computers before purchasing them.

“We’re excited to become a part of the Hartford community,” said Brenda Steigman, Executive Director of GreenShare Technology. “It is our goal to become a one-stop source for low-cost computer technology and repair. We hope this new location will make us more accessible to the people who can benefit from our services.”

GreenShare Technology will host an open house at its new location Thursday, March 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. The public is welcome to stop by to learn more about the company’s services and bring an unwanted computer to be re-purposed or recycled. For more information, visit www.greensharetechnology.org or call 860-724-3535.

A 501(c) (3) charitable organization and Microsoft® registered refurbisher, Greenshare Technology offers computer recycling services for businesses and families to discard unwanted technology, keeping working computers out of landfills and putting them into the hands of small businesses, schools, non-profit organizations, government programs, and other eligible customers who might otherwise not have access to this technology.

GreenShare Technology received the 2011 Social Entrepreneur Award and the 2010 Hartford Young Professionals & Entrepreneurs (HYPE) Award.  The company is a reSET incubator program.

CT Receives Recognition for Economic Development

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development has received national recognition from a top site selector organization for its economic development efforts.  DECD was selected to receive the 2013 Site Selectors Guild Award for its work with Tronox Inc., a chemical company that announced in 2012 that it would be locating its world headquarters in Stamford.  The Site Sectors Guild is a professional association that includes some of the worlds most respected site consultants. The most recent recognition underscores ongoing efforts of DECD, which include highlighting Connecticut's strong position to attract and grow businesses.  Some of the noteworthy stats:

• Connecticut is a leader in patents, ranking 8th in the nation.
• Connecticut is a leader in business research and development, ranking #1 per capita.
• Connecticut is a global competitor, ranking #6 in world GDP per capita.
• Connecticut’s workers are among the most productive in the nation, ranking fourth among states.
• Connecticut is a leader in venture capital deals, which are key to the development of small business, ranking #7.
• The state ranks 9th in the nation as a leader in the New Economy.
• Connecticut is a leader in finance and insurance, ranking #2 in total employment.
• Connecticut is a leading exporter ranking tenth in per capita exports.
• Connecticut has a highly educated workforce ranking third with an adult population with advanced degrees.
• Connecticut ranks 6th in the number of scientists & engineers per 100,000 employees.

The data, provided by CL&P's Connecticut Economic Review 2013 and The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, reflects a mix of widely known and virtually unknown stats about Connecticut workforce and global position in a range of industries.

Small Business Development Center is Re-launched At UConn Campuses, Chambers of Commerce

The Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC), a collaborative initiative of the federal Small Business Administration (SBA), State of Connecticut and University of Connecticut, is being rebooted, redesigned and re-launched in an effort to be more responsive to the state’s small and newly-forming businesses. CTSBDC is a five-year, $11.6 million program to provide financial and technical assistance to businesses with 500 or fewer employees – which accounts for roughly 93 percent of Connecticut employers.

The initiative was announced by UConn’s Vice President for Economic Development Mary Holz-Clause and state Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Catherine Smith during Connecticut Business Day at the State Capitol.  They were joined by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, President and CEO of the Business Council of Fairfield County Chris Bruhl, UConn Board Chair and Middlesex Chamber of Commerce President Larry McHugh and business leaders from across the state.

“The new SBDC is designed to focus more like a private sector business: close to its customers, interconnected, efficiently using scarce resources, and offering a slate of innovative new services,” Bruhl said. “With a statewide network of 11 local SBDC offices, the Center strives to build the local ecosystem, recognizing that small business begins at the local level.”

The program will fund 16 full-time positions and two part-time positions, with individuals located at each of the 11 service centers, including seven local Chambers of Commerce and four regional UConn campuses, as well as the UConn campus in Storrs, and the Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center in Middletown.

During the news conference, Holz-Clause pointed out that the University is an ideal home for the SBDC, as the power of UConn’s network of more than 100,000 alumni can be tapped to serve as both mentors and connectors for small businesses to ensure they are successful. In addition, the six regional campuses provide the SBDC with an established network of satellite sites that are already engaged in local, state, and national business development efforts. She also noted the work of organizations such as UConn Ventures, which are helping to launch new businesses based on research and innovation at UConn.

“UConn is really focused on growing Connecticut’s economy from the ground up,” said Holz-Clause. “That’s why this partnership is such a perfect fit for us. It builds on some of our existing strengths and gives us a front-row seat for truly exciting developments in the state’s business community.”

Governor Malloy pointed out that “The reinvigorated Small Business Development Center takes our economic development strategy to a new level, combining the academic strength and resources of our flagship university with the knowledge and reach of our chambers of commerce, to bring technical and financial assistance to the sector responsible for the overwhelming majority of our jobs: small businesses.”

The Small Business Development Center program, administered by the federal government’s Small Business Administration, has been providing service to small businesses for more than 30 years and is one of the largest professional small business management and technical assistance networks in the nation with over 900 locations across the country.  In Connecticut, it had been based at Central Connecticut State University and the Connecticut State University System in recent years.  Previously, UConn had hosted the program.

For more information regarding the SBDC and its programs, please visit the newly designed  website at  www.ctsbdc.org. To learn more about UConn’s Office of Economic Development, please visit www.innovation.uconn.edu.

CT Ranked #5 in Green Job Creation in 2012

Connecticut ranked #5 in the U.S. for green job creation during 2012, according to a national business association compiling of media reports. Environmental Entrepreneurs, a New York City-based organization, ranked all 50 states for green job creation based on projects completed, in progress, or announced in 2012 and the estimated number of jobs created by those projects.  Nationwide, companies and communities announced more than 300 clean energy and clean transportation projects in 2012 that are expected to create 110,000 jobs, the report said.

Connecticut had four projects in 2012 expected to generate 4,958 jobs, the Hartford Business Journal noted in its reporting.  Those projects were the construction of the $97 million headquarters of North Haven construction parts manufacturer Sustainable Building Solutions; the opening of Scottish power company Renewable Resources in Stamford; the construction of the New Britain-to-Hartford busway; and the Plainfield Renewable Energy biomass plant.  The report indicated that Connecticut had 50 projects in progress.

Connecticut was the only New England state in the top 10. Leading the states was California with 25,354 jobs followed by Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, Connecticut, Arizona, New York, Michigan, Texas, and Oregon.

As a region, the Southeast led the country in manufacturing-related clean energy job announcements, with more than 13,700 jobs announced last year, accounting for about 80 percent of the nation’s total. Solar, advanced vehicles and wind energy were the leading clean energy manufacturing industries in the Southeast.  Nationwide, clean transportation projects led the job growth last year, followed by clean power generation, manufacturing and energy efficiency projects.

The report was issued by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), described as “a national community of individual business leaders who advocate for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity.”

Quinnipiac Skates to New Heights; Games Over for MCC

While one is flying high, the other is grounded.  That’s the world of difference now facing student-athletes at two Connecticut higher ed institutions.  Quinnipiac University’s hockey team is ranked number one in the nation, the first time that’s happened for a team from the Hamden school.  Over at Manchester Community College, officials have announced plans to eliminate all sports at the school, due to budgetary cutbacks, abruptly ending the collegiate sports careers – and possibly the college attendance – for student athletes in soccer and basketball.  Baseball was eliminated earlier this decade. Quinnipiac was just voted atop the USCHO.com poll on Monday for the fourth successive week, according to The New Haven Register.  The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.

The Bobcats (24-5-5) received 36 of 50 first-place votes to keep them ahead of No. 2 Minnesota, which had 12 first-place votes. The nationally-ranked No. 1 Quinnipiac team defeated No. 18 Dartmouth, 4-1, in its final regular-season game of the 2012-13 season. Quinnipiac improves to 24-5-5 overall and will finish the ECAC Hockey regular season at 17-2-3. The Bobcats were 11-0-0 against ranked opponents for the year.

In Manchester, college President Gena Glickman told The Hartford Courant that the athletic program costs the school about $370,000 - at a time when hard decisions and cuts need to be made.  While announcing plans to eliminate the sports program, she acknowledged that some students who would otherwise not attend college do so because of the athletic opportunities, and have a high rate of academic success, with many continuing on with their education after earning their Associate’s degree.

Men's soccer coach Darren Foster said that he would not be where he is now without having attended Manchester CC, after his military service in Afghanistan. Athletic director Cynthia Washburne attended MCC for a semester in 1981 before going on to play softball at Eastern.

No word on whether the funds can be located – or donated from an outside benefactor – to reverse the decision and keep the programs alive at MCC for at least another year.  Such a rescue appears unlikely.  Of Connecticut's 12 community colleges, only New Haven's Gateway Community College is slated to offer sports next year, even though education officials acknowledge that athletics is a way in to higher education for some students - students who might not otherwise pursue college.  .

After winning its first Cleary Cup, for the ECAC Hockey Regular-Season Championship, two weeks ago, Quinnipiac earned the top seed and a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Tournament. The Bobcats will host an ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals series on Mar. 15-17.

The thinner ice, it turns out,  is in Manchester.  In Hamden, there’s solid ground.

Nonprofit Density Impacts Unemployment Rate; CT Misses Top 10

Communities with better civic health have weathered the recent recession far better – and experienced considerably smaller increases in unemployment – than other communities that faced similar economic circumstances, according to a report by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC).  Counties across the nation that were rich in nonprofit organizations lost considerably fewer jobs than the low-nonprofit counties, the study revealed. A state-by-state analysis by the organization placed Connecticut in the second tier of states in both the density of nonprofit organizations, and social cohesion (interacting with friends and neighbors), the two measures used in the study, released in 2012.  Connecticut ranked between #11 and #20 in each category, just outside the first tier, top-10 states.

For individuals who held jobs in 2008, the odds of becoming unemployed were cut in half if they lived in a community with many nonprofit organizations rather than one with a few nonprofits, even if the two communities were otherwise similar, the study found.  Among the New England states, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont placed in the top ten.

Overall, counties with more nonprofits per capita prior to the recession had lower unemployment in 2006. And while almost all of the counties lost jobs during the recession years, the counties with more nonprofits per capita lost fewer jobs between 2006 and 2009. Both patterns remain even when holding education, median income, housing prices, and other economic factors constant, according to the report.  Counties ranking in the top 10% in nonprofit density experienced an increase of only 2 percentage points in their unemployment rate between 2006 and 2009, compared with 5.1 percentage points for the counties in the bottom 10% in nonprofit density.

These results suggest – according to the report – that nonprofits may bring economic benefits by directly employing people and also by changing the economic climate of the whole community. Nonprofits support civic engagement and social cohesion; in turn, when citizens feel committed to their communities and connected to their fellow residents, they are more likely to make decisions that boost local employment.

The study used statistical models to investigate the relationship between civic health and unemployment in the 50 states, 942 metro areas, and more than 3,100 counties since 2006.  NCoC was chartered by Congress in 1953 to harness the patriotic energy and national civic involvement surrounding World War II. In 2009, Congress  expanded the organization’s Civic Health Assessment to become the nation’s largest and most definitive measure of civic engagement.

CT Girlcott Set to Make History, Opens Make-Up Free Photo Exhibit

March is Women’s History Month, and a number of local organizations in Greater Hartford have come together looking to make some history of their own.   They’ve organized CT Girlcott, a movement of women willing to go makeup free for the month (or part thereof) and to donate the money usually spent on cosmetics to organizations that benefit women and girls in Connecticut and around the world.  The effort also aims to raise awareness around body image and the relationship between women and the makeup they wear. Among the organizers are Charter Oak Cultural Center, YWCA Hartford Region, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, University of Hartford Women for Change, Women’s Education and Leadership Fund, CT Humanities, and the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.  A website, www.ctgirlcott.org has been launched highlighting the initiative.

The Charter Oak Cultural Center is hosting a photography exhibition as part of CT Girlcott which features the images of the women leaders who have “dared to bare it all for the camera.” Revealed: Images of Women Leaders Who Bared to Make Change opens with a reception on February 28, 6-8 PM, and runs through April 13.  Photographs of over thirty women leaders from the Greater Hartford community will be revealed without their make-up, including many familiar names (and faces).

Girlcott is "a movement of Connecticut women raising consciousness" on behalf of women around the world and the issues currently confronting women in 2013.  Girlcott asks women to “girlcott” (as opposed to boycott) make-up for the month of March and to donate the monies spent on cosmetics to organizations and programs that help and support women and girls in Hartford and internationally. Connecticut Humanities provided funding for the exhibition, which includes the work of photographers Nilofer Haider, Lena Stein, and Nicolette Theriault.

CT Girlcott hopes to encourage conversations among women about body image, definitions of beauty, and what cosmetics are really covering up, and support the flourishing of women and girls in Connecticut, as well as in developing and war-torn countries.  The initiative also seeks to raise awareness about the representation of women in the media, the pressures women live with to look a certain way, the objectification of women, and the impact all of this has on women’s lives and the life of the nation and world.