Ah, early Fall in Northeast Ohio.  The Tribe, after writing off their season mid-summer, has suddenly woke up and battled back to third place in their division just 10 or so games out.  The Browns go 0-4 for the preseason but hopefully have got injuries out of their system early.  Hang on, sports fans.

From a news perspective, August was a fairly slow month.  We’ve recapped a nice selection of positive news from after the break.

Continued

The State of Ohio Department of Development just released a new strategic plan for economic development within our State.  Called “Ohio, Home of Innovation and Opportunity“, the plan is introduced on it’s own website by Lt. Governor Lee Fisher:

It is with great enthusiasm and a shared sense of optimism for our future that we present to the people of Ohio our economic development strategic plan. Ohio, Home of Innovation and Opportunity is a bold, practical, and forward-thinking plan to change the trajectory of Ohio’s economy by purposefully redesigning our business climate to increase the global competitiveness of Ohio’s employers.

The website makes the full plan available, including an executive summary and an area to “share your thoughts”.

About the SBIR / STTR programs

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Technology administers the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. Through these two competitive programs, SBA ensures that the nation’s small, high-tech, innovative businesses are a significant part of the federal government’s research and development efforts. Eleven federal departments participate in the SBIR program; five departments participate in the STTR program awarding $2billion to small high-tech businesses.

For more information, head over to the SBIR.gov site.

BioEnterprise, in conjunction with TechLift, is offering a two-part training workshop on this important source of federal funds. 

SBIR/STTR Training Workshop

Offered in Partnership with TechLift

Part One: Informational Workshop
Wednesday September 24, 2008
1 to 4 p.m.

Offered in Partnership with TechLift

Workshop on the basics of the SBIR/STTR programs geared to those interested in learning more about the program’s scope, technology interests, eligibility, & funding sources. This session will help you decide whether you can and should compete for the over $2 Billion in SBIR and STTR Funding in 2008.

Location:
JumpStart, Inc.
737 Bolivar Road
Main Conference Room

Click here to register

Questions:
Contact Dee Montgomery at 216.658.3973

Part Two: Intensive Grant Preparation Workshop + One-on-One Consulting
October 15 & 16, 2008
9 to 4 p.m.

Two-day, intensive workshop covering all aspects of writing winning SBIR/STTR proposals, focused on health care technologies and companies. This program is geared for those individuals that are serious about submitting a proposal and includes 5 hours of one-on-one consulting.

Location:
BioEnterprise
11000 Cedar Ave.
Main Conference Room

Cost: $250

Click here to register

Questions:
Contact Dee Montgomery at 216.658.3973

Virtually every entrepreneur is looking for capital.  Not every entrepreneur needs VC money or is even ready for it.  However, whether it’s Angel networks, VC’s, or an investor network, eventually you will be shaking some trees to find additional funds to move your start-up forward.

The best advice we can give is to work through an entity that is plugged into the investment community.  NEOinc is one, and there are others throughout our region.  For entrepreneurs not in Northeast Ohio, do some research to find economic development entities or business incubators and work through them. 

If you cannot find local or regional partners that can provide an introduction for you to potential funders, then this article on how to approach a VC you don’t know gives some very practical do’s and dont’s on the topic. 

We urge you to read the entire article, but here are the basics.

Do

• Research the VC, his/her firm and their investments
• Reach out to the VC in a way that makes it easy for a VC to respond to your approach
• Be specific in your approach about why you’re approaching that VC and what you’d like to accomplish
• Provide the VC with enough information during the initial approach to allow him to qualify that you and your opportunity are interesting
• Recognize that successful fundraising is usually a series of small steps rather than one large step
• Follow through when you make your outreach and be gently persistent

Don’t

• Try to make idle chitchat as a prelude to your “ask”
• Name drop, try to create a false sense of urgency, or raise a lot of hype unless you can back it up

reXorce Thermionics, a tenant in the Akron Global Business Accelerator, just received a $5M deal with an European investor.

According to the article in the Beacon Journal, reXorce plans to use the money to hire up to 12 new engineers and locate a new base of operations.  While the Akron location has been “incredibly supportive in handling their growth” it simply isn’t big enough to handle the demonstrations systems reXorce plans to build.

reXorce is not looking for a new building however.   Their plan is to locate an old, unused building and renovate it into an advanced energy showcase.

COO Phil Brennan, as quoted in the article:

We are surrounded by resources we misuse.  The cost in energy to tear down a building and put up a new one is irresponsible. We’d rather bring an old building back to life.

Wait - an advanced energy company in Northeast Ohio gets a $5M investment and they not only want to stay in the region, but are socially responsible too?

NEOinc sure knows how to pick ‘em!

(Thanks to Paula Schleis, Beacon Journal business writer, for her continued focus entrepreneurial activity in the Akron area.  We need a few more Paula’s around the region!)

What were you born to do? If your answer is “be a leader”, “be an innovator”, or “build new enterprises or companies”, then this event may be for you!  Learn about the award-winning Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (STEP) at CWRU and how STEP companies have formed.

Agenda:
8:00-8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30-8:45 a.m. TechLift Introduction
8:45-10:00 a.m. Presentation by Edward M. Caner, Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Programs, College of Arts & Sciences, Executive Director, STEP
Case Western Reserve University

Tuesday, October 7th, 2007
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Location: OAI, 22800 Cedar Point Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44142

Registration:
The event is complimentary but you need to register.
By e-mail: patriciagrospiron@oai.org and monicadumitriu@oai.org
By phone: Patricia Grospiron, 440-962-3216 and Monica Dumitriu, 440-962-3141
For more information, please visit www.oai.org (Networking & Events).

There is lots of good information on the Internet of value to entrepreneurs.  Sometimes, it can be hard to find though. 

From time to time on the NEOinc blog, we’ll highlight a few good articles on a particular topic.  Today, we have three articles with particular relevance to new, or first time entrepreneurs. 

1. First, our apologies if you are already on Olympics overload.  Using Olympics stars as a backdrop, the post 7 lessons Olympians can teach Internet entrepreneurs is a quick and valuable read.  Much of it is reinforcement of basic entrepreneurial qualities, but if you are just starting out it’s a good statement of the effort and commitment you will need to succeed.  We’re not sure why “Internet” is in the title - this article is applicable to any entrepreneur.
2. Next, since many younger and first-time entrepreneurs are starting online businesses, we thought this article on How to demo your product would be applicable.  This is a phenomenal post written from the perspective of someone who had just sat through 40 hours of online demos (in 10 minute increments)!  Some of the suggestions are basics, some are more insightful, but they are all good.  If you have a start-up with a product that can be demoed, this article should definitely be on your bookmark list.
3. Finally, a lengthy post on fundraising.  For those of you who have been around for a while, you can skip this post as it is mostly comprised of fundraising basics.  The interesting twist is the article is written primarily from the perspective of a technology-or service-oriented entrepreneur.  So, new entrepreneurs, here’s a good overview on the topic of fundraising.  Technology and service entrepreneurs, here’s some twists on the fundraising issue that might be of interest to you.

So there’s our three great posts for first-time entrepreneurs.  If you know someone who could benefit from any of these posts, please forward them on.  If you are reading this via RSS, there should be a convenient “Email this” link at the bottom of the post.  If you are reading this on the NEOinc blog, simply right-click the post title and “copy shortcut” for a link you can send.

Must be great news week!

Here’s the latest update out of the Youngstown Business Incubator:

We haven’t talked about SofTek Software in a while. They are kind of our quiet company, offering a proprietary PoS (point-of-sale) software to four major market verticals, while taking customers from industry giants in those spaces like Reynolds & Reynolds and ADP.

And all the while, they have been quietly building all the necessary internal infrastructure, like one of the best customer support systems we have ever seen, to sustain and further grow the company.

Well in 2008, the pay off for all their hard work is finally here and sales are moving off the charts.

How good?

We’re pleased to report that in spite of a very good year in 2007, SofTek sold more systems in the first half of this year than they did the entire previous year. And to support that sales growth,  five new employees started work at the firm just yesterday alone.

Visit SofTek Software to see the next rising star in the Youngstown Business Incubator portfolio.

Jim Cossler
Chief Evangelist
Youngstown Business Incubator

Akron Global Business Accelerator (AGBA) tenant PolyFlow was profiled in the Plain Dealer recently.  What does PolyFlow do?  Nothing big - just transform scrap plastic, any scrap plastic, back into raw materials.

I know what you’re thinking: “Yea, yea heard it all before.”  Actually, so have we.  You’re not in the incubator business very long before you realize perpetual motion machines and tires to oil ideas walk through your door fairly frequently.

But Joe Hensel and the rest of the guys in PolyFlow may just have something this time.

As the Plain Dealer article profiles, PolyFlow has what is called a demonstration plant up and running down in Akron.  A demonstration plant is a scaled-down version of the eventual full production plant.  The demo plant is being used to validate the technology and demonstrate the process to venture capitalists and plastics industry reps.

Guess what - it works!

In a process called pyrolysis, shredded plastic is vaporized, condensed and ultimately distilled back into it’s chemical raw components.  That’s world-changer #1 - no longer do I need to buy a new barrel of oil for my raw materials, I can now get them from PolyFlow.

World-Changer #2 is that PolyFlow’s process works with any plastic.  Did you ever notice those numbers on the bottom of plastic containers and how your city only wants you to recycle 1’s and 2’s (at least in my city that’s how it works).  That’s because the higher the number, the harder they are to re-process.  PolyFlow’s technology removes that barrier and allows any plastic to be processed.

PolyFlow is still validating their technology, but if the VCs and plastics executives visiting a grassy park lot down in Akron are any indication, we’re looking at another big win for the region.

For more details about Joe, his team, and PolyFlow, please read the entire PD article.

Knotice, a tenant in NEOinc’s Akron Global Business Accelerator, was profiled over the weekend by the Akron Beacon Journal.

Knoticedelivers integrated marketing communications across email, web, mobile and emerging digital channels and is a JumpStart portfolio company.  Knotice is adding customers and growing quickly.  The Beacon Journal story provides some background on the company founders, why they are here in Northeast Ohio, and how bright their future looks.  (This is a 3 page story - be sure to click the page numbers to advance and read the entire article).

Congratulations Knotice!