PARTNERING WITH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

TO LAUNCH AND ATTRACT ENTREPRENEURS

 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPERS

 

 

  1. Develop a regional strategy for capturing and retaining spin-offs from the university.  The strategy should include development of a staged entrepreneurial infrastructure and services needed to nurture and grow start-ups.  Plan for and implement strategies that not only capture, but also retain growing enterprises over time.

 

  1. Work with the university to identify core competencies in and around the university.

 

  1. Work with the university to increase federal funding in core competency areas.  This increases the research foundation upon which new inventions are based and technology startups are launched.

 

  1. Attract venture capital, particularly seed and early-stage capital to the community.  In order to attract more early-stage capital, work with the university to market innovations and start-ups to potential investors.  If the university does not have enterprise forum and business plan competitions, help them create those activities and/or develop community ones.

 

  1. Develop local sources of seed capital and develop/enhance angel capital networks.  Make sure those networks are well linked to the university.

 

  1. Link local entrepreneurial services to the university – educate university technology transfer offices, entrepreneurship programs, incubators, research parks, etc. about the community’s entrepreneurial resources and make the link.  Also work with the university to insure linkages to state technology programs and to federal resources such as SBIR.    

 

  1. Help identify entrepreneurial mentors and CEOs-in-residence and introduce them to university entrepreneurship programs and technology transfer offices.  If there are no mentoring programs at the university, work with the university to create them or alternatively create external programs that can be accessed by university entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

 

  1. Work with corporations in the community to educate them about university research and entrepreneurial resources and offer to act as a liaison between corporations and the university.  Encourage corporate mentoring and corporate participation on university advisory boards.

 

  1. Create/enhance abundant networking opportunities for entrepreneurs in the university and the community. 

 

  1. Market the university; it is one of your community’s best technology assets.  Work with the university’s technology transfer office, sponsored research office, incubator, research park, and press office to identify and publicize entrepreneurial and technology transfer news locally, regionally and nationally.  Encourage local newspapers to start a “Tech Thursday” section on science and technology.  Sponsor media events such as local awards dinners for entrepreneurs that help create an entrepreneurial atmosphere in and around the university.

 

  1. Encourage university leadership to become fully engaged in economic development.  Organize meetings between the university leadership and key policy makers and corporate leaders to facilitate university engagement and align economic development strategies and goals. 

 

  1. Help the university evaluate its impact on local and state economies and present the outcomes to policy makers.  Universities, particularly state universities, need credible economic impact data to justify their requests for state funding of research, technology transfer and entrepreneurial activities.  Helping the university “make its case” serves the university’s and the community’s economic interests.

 

 

 

For more information, go to: www.InnovationAssociates.us