Are you or is someone you know looking for funding to develop a new product?

If so, the Cuyahoga County New Product Development Loan Program, administered by MAGNET, has low interest loan funding available to help small businesses or entrepreneurs bring their ideas to reality.

A funding round is now open. Completed applications will be accepted until Tuesday, July 6, 2010.

The application process has recently changed.  Please visit http://www.magnetwork.org/programs/county_loan.htm for more specific program information and instructions on how to submit an application.

Funding is available to small businesses or entrepreneurs with prior year sales of less than $50 million who have an idea to develop a new product that will be manufactured in Cuyahoga County for at least 7 years.

The application process is competitive.  Applicants will have their submissions reviewed and approved by a committee consisting of local business leaders, venture capitalist, designers, and entrepreneurs.   Loans are made in phased increments ranging from $15,000 to $60,000 depending upon how much development has already been completed and what remains to be done.  Funds can be used for activities such as market research, patent services, industrial design, engineering and prototyping efforts.

The loans are 10 year loans.  They are interest and payment free for the first three years after disbursement.  The loan balance is then amortized over the remaining seven years of the loan (at an interest rate of 3.5%), during which time monthly payments of principal and interest are due.

Full details of the program are available at http://www.magnetwork.org/programs/county_loan.htm.  If you have further questions, please contact Barbara Paul at 216-432-5322 or barbara.paul@magnetwork.org.

We are thrilled to announce that Marv Schwartz has agreed to become the new Chief Science Officer of the Youngstown Business Incubator. In that capacity, he will be applying his considerable experience, expertise and personal talent network toward helping our portfolio bring their software products to market.

Marv is a serial entrepreneur with a history of launching highly successful technology ventures. He is perhaps best known as being the Founder, CEO and CTO of Noteworthy Medical Systems, the award winning electronic health record company that soared to $50million in revenues in just five years. Marv received his Ph.D in Computing and Information Sciences from Case Western Reserve University where he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Sciences.

Welcome aboard Marv. Now roll up your sleeves and help us build a couple dozen more $50million companies.

Jim Cossler
C.E.O & Chief Evangelist
Youngstown Business Incubator

$17 Million in Investments Now Available

Ohio Third Frontier, a program designed to expand our state’s robust technology sector, has generated a 9:1 return on its investments, leveraging resources and creating opportunities for Ohioans through innovation across our state. Today, the Ohio Department of Development announced the release of two competitive requests for proposals (RFP) for the program’s 2010 fiscal year.

“Through Ohio Third Frontier, we have invested more than $374 million in the biomedical cluster, a high impact industry across our state,” said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development. “Ohio Third Frontier’s strategic focus and investments will continue to strengthen and create new companies, commercialize new technologies, and create good jobs for Ohioans in both in the biomedical imaging and other sectors.”

Medical Imaging and Biomedical areas such as cardiovascular, regenerative medicine, and orthopedics, have demonstrated a compelling capacity for growth in Ohio. Recognizing that potential, Ohio Third Frontier has tailored its programming to become an investment partner in these industries, catalyzing the significant potential these sectors represent for Ohioans.

Designed in 2002 to build world-class research programs, nurture early-stage companies, and foster technology development that makes existing industries more productive, Ohio Third Frontier creates opportunity through innovation. The National Governor’s Association and Pew Center for the States described Ohio Third Frontier as “a comprehensive, professionally run effort to build world-class research capacity, promote interaction between research and industry, and commercialize research and development.”

Representatives from Ohio Third Frontier will conduct a bidder’s conference on January 5, 2010 at TechColumbus. Letters of intent are due to the Ohio Department of Development by January 25, 2010.  Formal proposals will be accepted until March 1, 2010 at 2 p.m., with program awards to be made in May 2010.

In keeping with Ohio Third Frontier’s commitment to transparency, proposals will be evaluated independently and externally, then reviewed by the Ohio Third Frontier Commission before final approval by the State Controlling Board.

Complete RFP materials are available at: www.thirdfrontier.com.  All information and guidance required to submit a successful proposal can be obtained directly from the Ohio Department of Development.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that $37 million in funding from the Recovery Act will be made available to qualified small businesses through the Department’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.  Today’s funding announcement emphasizes the Department’s commitment to developing near-term, clean energy technologies while allowing small businesses take part in the new industrial revolution that the sustainable energy economy will bring.

“Small businesses are engines of job creation and innovation, and we need their ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to drive a clean energy economy,” said Secretary Chu. “By helping small businesses bring clean technologies to market, we can create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and reduce carbon pollution.”

DOE’s SBIR/STTR programs target U.S. companies with fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses with strong research capabilities in science or engineering are encouraged to apply. Applications are currently being accepted for topic areas related to improving energy efficiency including:

• Advanced building air conditioning and refrigeration, thermal load shifting, and cool roofs
• Water usage in electric power generation and industrial processes
• Power plant cooling
• Advanced gas turbines and materials
• Sensors, controls, and wireless networks
• Advanced water power technology development
• Smart controllers for smart grid applications
• Advanced solar technologies
• Advanced industrial technologies development
• Advanced manufacturing processes

The deadline for submission of applications is September 4, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. EST.  Approximately $8.5 million is expected to be available for new Phase I awards.  Successful applicants may receive up to $150,000 for a Phase I grant for a period of six months to demonstrate the feasibility of the ideas that appear to have commercial potential.

Read more information about DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs.

Just about every entrepreneur is looking for funding for their startup; this is particularly true for technology companies.  Republished here with permission from the author (The Tech Czar himself), is a great recap of economic incentives for the high tech sector.  From the city level to the state, whether it’s tax credits or loan funds, the information below is a wide-ranging snapshot of incentive options for your high-tech startup. A big thanks to Michael and LNE for pulling this together.

NEOinc would add to the list to include the Innovation Loan Fund at Lorain County Community College (grants up to 25K, loans up to 100K), and the Cuyahoga County New Product Development Fund, administered by MAGNET (loans up to 60K).

Without further ado – on to the incentives. Continued

In the latest round of awards, the Innovation Fund, administered by the Lorain County Community College Foundation, is investing $300,000 in six Northeast Ohio based technology start-up companies.  Funds from Ohio’s Third Frontier Program combined with matching local support and contributions from a variety of partners are used to make the Innovation Fund awards.  These partners and collaborators include: the Ohio Department of Development, the University of Akron, Youngstown State University, the Youngstown Business Incubator, the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE), JumpStart, Techlift and the Lorain County Commissioners.

The Innovation Fund advances the strategy to grow our own businesses and jobs in the region.  “In this our seventh round of funding, we continued to be impressed with depth and quality of entrepreneurial ideas that are emerging from our region,” noted Lorain County Community College President Dr. Roy A. Church.  “Including this round, the Fund has invested more than $2 million in 30 companies located in NE Ohio” Continued

A short but insightful article over at Ask the VC blog outlines some best practices for first-time entrepreneurs on how to build credible financial projections.   You really should click over and read the full post, but here are the highlights:

1. Accept that your revenue side will probably not be correct, but the cost side needs to be appropriate
2. Don’t assume a big revenue ramp to be supportable
3. Define the “next stage” of your business, what it will cost to get there and what it will look like
4. Be up front with investors that this is your first time and you are looking for feedback
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Good Luck!

As reported on MedCity News:

The Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center in Cleveland is looking for young companies that need financial and developmental help to take their heart-related products to market.

The GCIC, as it is commonly known, is a consortium of research and medical institutions, economic development organizations and companies headed by the Cleveland Clinic. The center is aiming to help launch medical devices, drugs, therapies, equipment and other cardiovascular products that can treat patients’ hearts.

It’s also aiming to create jobs and is planning a building at the Clinic’s main campus on the East Side of Cleveland. Many of the companies that receive grants from the center are expected to take up at least temporary residence at the building.

Already, the GCIC has made nearly $12 million-worth of grants to 35 companies for 40 projects, said Tom Sudow, director of business development for the center.

The largest grant was for $1 million and the smallest, $25,000, Sudow said. But grants average around $300,000.

Though most of its grants go to Ohio-based companies — and companies must have a presence in the state to qualify for grants — the GCIC has granted money to companies in Israel and Switzerland, as well as in North Carolina, Massachusetts and Maryland, Sudow said.

The next grant round starts on May 8 when the GCIC expects to post a request for proposals at its Web site. Interested companies can find information and apply online. The proposals are due by July 2.

The GCIC was started in late 2006 with a $60 million grant (pdf) from Ohio’s Third Frontier project.

Here you go, straight from an interview with Canadian VC Tim Jackson:

We saw 300 companies last year [and funded two] and the vast majority should never have been looking for venture capital. Our advice is just go and start the company. Go and sell this. If you have something people will buy, they will partner with you and you can build a business.

We hear these comments, in one form or another, over and over from investors of all types.  Too many entrepreneurs get overly focused on the pursuit of funding and forget that many great companies were started on a shoestring, bootstrapped through early sales, then became attractive to outside investors with a proven product and market.

Something to think about.

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.

Continued