University Hospitals Case Medical Center has spun off Fluence Therapeutics Inc., licensing to the company photodynamic therapy technology for the treatment of psoriasis and other skin diseases, according to MedCity News:

It’s the first time the Cleveland medical center has made a pre-seed investment in a start-up company, according to the center’s release. Fluence Therapeutics is housed at the Akron Global Business Accelerator, which is part of the city’s Biomedical Corridor District.

Cleveland attorney and entrepreneur Warren Goldenberg has become Fluence Therapeutics’ founding chief executive, said Stephen Behm, technology management director at the Center for Clinical Research and Technology UH Case Medical Center. “He has a successful track record with early stage companies,”  including CardioInsight and Imalux, that were developed at Case or University Hospitals, Behm said in the release.

Read the entire article on the MedCity News site.

A: The Akron Global Business Accelerator, of course (well, at least according to Governor Strickland).

The Governor made the remarks when he was visiting Echogen Power Systems (formerly ReXorce Thermionics) in the accelerator.  Echogen is developing an engine that turns the heat thrown off by industrial processes into useful electricity.  The company, a tenant of the Akron Global Business Accelerator, employs 20 people, many of them engineers at ”good paying” jobs, Strickland said.  Echogen expects to hire an 45 to 65 office employees and 50 to 75 manufacturing employees in the next five years.

Echogen received a $4.3M Third Frontier grant in 2008 that their CEO credited with shaving a year and a half off their development timetable.  The company has also attracted millions of dollars from other investors, including the regional business development group JumpStart Inc.

The full story is available over on Ohio.com’s website as reported by Paula Schleis.  Paula can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.

Akron Global Business Accelerator tenant rexorce Thermionics, while still a tenant of the accelerator, has also established it’s own headquarters in Akron and has big plans for the coming year, as reported recently by Crain’s Cleveland Business:

• The 18-person company expects to grow out of its 18,000-square-foot headquarters by January 2011
• The company in January is scheduled to install a 250-kilowatt pilot version of its Thermafficient heat engine at a power generating plant owned by a large utility
• In about a year, rexorce aims to install a 6-megawatt version of its heat engine at an industrial site

As reported in the Akron Beacon Journal recently, AGBA tenant InSet Systems has partnered with the largest underground mine in Ohio to test their technology:

‘This test will confirm all of the pieces of the system, prove its vastly superior accuracy, and serve as a demonstration site for potential customers and investors,” Chief Operating Officer Jay Breeding said in the latest newsletter from JumpStart, a business development group that has invested in the startup.

JumpStart noted that by the end of the year, ”the company will have taken a technology from idea to commercialization in 17 months. By doing this, InSeT will provide the nearly 2,000 underground mines in the U.S. with a superior way to comply with a government-regulated act and potentially save lives.”

Cleveland sports may not be working out the way we had hoped here in early June, but the economic development activities in our region certainly seem to be bearing fruit.

At the Team NEO Economic Development Impact Awards last week, ten awards were handed out recognizing various organizations and initiatives for their positive economic impact our our region.  Here’s a recap of the winners in the various categories:

• Asset Creation: Akron’s BioInnovation Institute
• Business Attraction: Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber
• Business Expansion: Ashland Area Council for Economic Development, Ashland County, Jackson Twsp.Ashland Area Council for Economic Development, Ashland County, Jackson Twsp.
• Business Retention: City of Akron, Greater Akron Chamber, County of Summit, Summit County Port Authority
• Foreign Investment: Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County
• Fostering Entrepreneurship: Lorain County Community College Foundation
• Marketing Cleveland Plus: Cohen & Co.
• Minority Business Development: City of Lakewood & LakewoodAlive
• Public-Private Partnership: Maple Street Commerce LLC. City of North Canton, and Stark Development Board
• Workforce Development: Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering Center of Cuyahoga Community College

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In a news conference Friday, the Akron Global Business Accelerator announced the attraction of two new Israeli technology companies.  Executives from the two companies suggested that up to 80 new jobs could be created over the next couple of years.  The technologies involved are:

• Remote-monitoring systems with diverse applications; e.g. allowing medical professionals to monitor the health of and speak to a home-based patient using a watchlike device
• Products around a terahertz radiation power source which dramatically amplifies current detection capabilities.   One application is a scanning device that would pick up trace elements of explosives from a distance, perhaps ending the need for airline procedures such as passenger shoe removal.

Congratulations AGBA - two exciting new technology companies creating jobs in our region.  Read the entire story here.

Summit Data Communications, a tenant in the Akron Global Business Accelerator, recently received certification for Version 4 of Cisco Compatible Extension.  As reported in the Akron Beacon Journal:

Summit Data Communications, an Akron-based provider of wireless cards for mobile devices in challenging environments, said it is among the first to be approved for Cisco Systems-compatibility in medical equipment.

Summit parts have been certified for Version 4 of Cisco Compatible Extensions for use in two Philips PageWriter cardiographs. CCX is a program that tests how well Wi-Fi client devices work with products from the global networking giant.

It’s mid-May and Cleveland basketball is still being played, so “positive change” is definitely underway! Here’s two eight more “W’s”!

After a couple months that were a bit light on the positive news, there was lots to choose from in April.  What was maybe most surprising were many articles about significant capital and job influxes coming into Ohio and Northeast Ohio.  250 jobs here, $14M of investment there, and all of a sudden things aren’t looking so bad after all.

Lastly, if you are a entrepreneur looking for funding for a product-based business, you have until Noon, Friday the 15th to take advantage of the Cuyahoga County New Product Development and Entrepreneurship Loan Fund, administered by MAGNET.  Long term, low interest loans of $15K, $40K and $60K are available through this competitive program.  Details, documents and contacts are all available online.

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These two stories out of Akron highlight a couple aspects of entrepreneurship we see every day in our incubators.

Saving brains one high-tech scan at a time

The newest tenant of the Akron Global Business Accelerator (FMI Technologies, Inc)  is trying to raise $6 million to build prototypes of an imaging system and conduct clinical trials at Akron General Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s 20 years before symptoms occur.

FMI’s imaging system uses positron emission tomography (PET) to monitor chemical changes in the brain, starting at what is called the hippocampus, the area where short-term memory is located and the first area to be affected by Alzheimer’s.

Life-changing technology, impressive initial results and the ongoing funding search.  Just another day in the life of a high-tech NEOinc entrepreneur.

Taking risks, reaping rewards

You’re in your mid-40’s.  You’ve been with your company for thirteen years, and you’re feeling pretty comfortable about your job.  What’s your next step?

Well, for someone with the entrepreneurial bug, it’s quitting that stable job, move to a new city, and start working for a company that has yet to make a sale.

With a comparison to entrepreneurship to skydiving or mountain climbing, this article profiling Tim Held’s transfer to ReXorce Thermionics does a good job of getting into the mindset of an entrepreneur.

Just another day for NEOinc…

Do you need funding to help develop a new product or know someone who does?  If so, MAGNET has loan funding that helps entrepreneurs or small businesses bring their ideas to reality.

MAGNET administers the New Product Development and Entrepreneurship Program, Product Innovation Loan Fund on behalf of the Cuyahoga County Department of Development.  In the last four years, the fund has provided over $3.5 million for new product development in NE Ohio and $500,000 in additional funds are now available.  Results of the program have been outstanding with loan recipients attracting over $18 million in additional investment, generating almost $9 million in revenue through the sales of over 330,000 product units, and creating 124 jobs.

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