So much so that the region just last week played host to the 12th annual State Science Technology Institute conference where 400 professionals in public policy, government, academia, technology transfer and economic development heard our story.

These are serious times and it seems every day brings more bad news.  Positive regional news is out there, you just need to look for it a bit.  This article is a great place to start.

Freedom Meditech is focused on developing a device similar in form factor to binoculars that would utilize the company’s proprietary technology to non-invasively measure glucose levels in the aqueous humor of the eye - an area which has demonstrated a high correlation to glucose levels in blood and throughout the body. The company’s patented algorithms and novel product design are intended to correct for the effects of various confounding factors that previously hindered the ability to obtain an accurate glucose measurement in the eye.

Based on data generated from preliminary studies, the company has been able to demonstrate that its first generation prototype is highly accurate at even low levels of glucose concentration - a capability that has historically posed a challenge to other technological approaches pursued by various companies in the field. The results of initial studies were featured in Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics magazine in 2006 and earned the company an invitation to present at the October 2007 Diabetes Technology Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Freedom Meditech is a prime example of a medical device startup taking advantage of the concentration of bio-device resources in our region, maintaining business and research and development relationships with The University of Toledo, Battelle, MAGNET, researchers at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, BioEnterprise, LNE Group, BioOhio, along with several other medical device commercialization experts across the country.

MAGNET wishes Freedom Meditech continued success.

Normally we are focused on the tenants and clients we assist; in this post however, please bear with us as we toot our own horn a little bit. 

 AGBA - The Akron Global Business Accelerator

AGBA had a great year, expanding their reach internationally and forming key partnerships:

• AGBA attracted 12 new high technology client/tenants since completion of their technology expansion 18 months ago.
• Over the past six months,  AGBA clients / tenants have attracted $16.4M in new investment capital.
• Three clients / tenants have received venture capital funding.
• Three new international companies from Israel, Italy and Germany will join the Accelerator in early 2008.
• AGBA recently executed a Memo of Understanding with the Akron General Medical Center to collaborate in the commercialization of biomedical research technologies.
• AGBA also became a member of the Wound Care Education & Research Consortium to create a Center of Excellence that would further develop its research, help it grow into a statewide institution, and develop a pipeline of technologies for commercialization.
• AGBA is in the process of negotiating with a Shanghai business incubator to develop market opportunities for clients / tenants, and the creation of a “soft landing” environment for Chinese companies wishing to establish a US presence in Akron.

Braintree

Braintree had another strong year supporting entrepreneurial and technology activity in Mansfield and the surrounding region.  With a focus on growing their tenants and creating connections, Braintree delivered in 2007.

• During 2007 Braintree added two new tenants and is expecting several more early in 2008.  One Braintree tenant saw sales increase by 400%.
•  Another Braintree tenant placed a medical device product into FDA testing and has raised over $1M of investment dollars to date, as it prepares to enter the manufacturing stage of their product.
• Braintree tenants filed two new patents and attracted over $1,500,000 in additional investments.
• The Northern Ohio IT Alliance, housed at Braintree, completed a busy year sponsoring two CIO luncheons attracting aver 80 participants and seven Tech Thursday events attracting over 400 participants.   The Northern Ohio IT Alliance continues to grow in membership and its support of the technology community in Northeast Ohio.  In addition to NOITA, Braintree also houses an office of the Small Business Development Center at Ashland University and an International Trade Assistance Center that serves new-to-export companies in a nineteen county region.

GLIDE

GLIDE announced it’s Innovation Fund as a major achievement, in addition to several other important milestones.

• The Lorain County Community College Foundation Innovation Fund was established.  The fund, which is supported by GLIDE, received fifteen applications during its first funding round which ended on September 30. Of these fifteen applications, six were presented to the fund’s evaluation committee. Three companies were selected from the six finalists to receive grants.
•  GLIDE relocated its offices to the Entrepreneurship Innovation Center (EIC), located on the campus of Lorain Country Community College in May, 2007. The grand opening ceremony was well attended and included Governor Ted Strickland and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher who addressed the attendees. Also attending and participating in the event were Senator Sherrod Brown, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Congresswoman Betty Sutton.
• GLIDE continued to work with a variety of local and regional organizations in support of entrepreneurial activity. 
• The Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), GLIDE, and Lorain County Community College formally dedicated space in the Entrepreneurship Innovation Center as hoteling space for COSE members. This space offers wireless connectivity for laptop users, meeting facilities, and access to office equipment for COSE members traveling in the area.

The MAGNET Incubation Program

The MAGNET Innovation Center was proud to graduate an anchor tenant, facilitate continued success of its other tenants while continuing to administer the Cuyahoga County New Product Loan fund.

• Anchor tenant Innovation Process Administration, LLC, who grew from an initial three employees to well over twenty while in the incubator, graduated and now is based in a Brecksville office park that they also own.

• Throughout 2007, incubator tenants generated $5.6 million in revenue, $2.7 million in additional investment and added 38 jobs to the workforce.

• Through the Cuyahoga County New Product Loan Fund (CCLF), approximately $1.2 million in new loans were awarded to 29 recipients.  Throughout 2007, all loan recipients (including previous recipients), generated $1.1 million in revenue, an additional $4.2 in investment capital, and added 44 jobs to the workforce.

• MAGNET and Midtown Cleveland were awarded a $20,000 grant by the Cuyahoga County Department of Development to develop a business plan for the Midtown Innovation Zone; a comprehensive package of incentives and services to attract, retain and grow technology-related businesses in the midtown area of Cleveland.

YBI - The Youngstown Business Incubator

YBI had a fantastic year, with explosive growth of the incubator leading to an expansion seen as a national model.  It doesn’t hurt when you have a tenant that is the fastest growing software company in the nation!  Throughout 2007, YBI:

• Added five new B2B software companies to their growing portfolio.
• Received high profile visitors including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Presidential candidate John Edwards, Senator Sherrod Brown, and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher.
• Began construction on their new $6 million Taft Technology Center to accommodate the tremendous growth of tenant companies.
• Secured $1.5 million in funding to establish the National Center of Excellence for Advanced Metrology and 3-Dimensional Imaging.
• Portfolio company Turning Technologies tops the Weatherhead 100 list and was named by Inc. magazine as the fastest growing software company in the country.

Wow - that was a great year! 

Even with all the achievements of 2007, we have no doubt that 2008 will be even more successful. Not the least because of the added capacity of the TechLift program, new venture funds entering our region, and the wonderful successes centered around the NEOinc incubators. 

Please use the Email link below to pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in our accomplishments or our services. 

Wayne Zeman, Chair of NEOinc, and Vice President of Venture Development for MAGNET, said “These results are truly impressive.  It demonstrates in real, tangible terms the strong positive impact that those collective incubation programs are having on the NE Ohio economy right now.”  Each of the incubators receive funding from Ohio’s Thomas Edison Program and that funding have been leveraged to a great degree: for every dollar of Edison funding provided to the incubators, $102 in sales and investment are generated by the incubator tenants.  “We’re thrilled with the impact our tenants have already achieved and we look forward to growing impact in the future as additional, critically needed resources flow into the NEOinc incubation programs,” said Bob Cohen, Director of Braintree in Mansfield.

Zeman also said, “The services provided by NEOinc stimulate the creation of high-growth, companies providing high-wage jobs to the residents of Ohio and economic value to its taxpayers.  The assistance provided to these companies and the entrepreneurs within them will enhance the ability of those companies to develop innovative products, increase sales revenue, and attract investment capital.”

For more information call Wayne Zeman of MAGNET at 216-432-4197 or Bob Cohen of Braintree at 419-525-1614.  To find a NEOinc incubator near you, use our Contact Us page.

At least three visible outcomes of the Summit have emerged: An increased emphasis on Information Technology, an increased emphasis on regionalism, and an increased emphasis on globalism.

The Northern Ohio IT Alliance was created, accepted into the statewide network of regional IT Alliances and has now become one of only five such regional groups that provide a regular offering of programming and services to its membership which now spans a 13 county area.  Further information about the group can be found at its website, http://www.noita.org

Leaders of Ashland and Richland Counties have made a conscious effort to affiliate more with the rest of Northeast Ohio.  Both counties are now active with JumpStart, the region’s pre-venture capital facilitator, both work with NorTech and BioEnterprise to further technology-based economic development, Richland County is a member of NEOTEC, the Northeast Ohio Trade and Economic Consortium, and both counties are full members of the Fund for Our Economic Future, which is emerging as one of the major funding sources for technology-based economic development in Northeast Ohio.  Further information about the fund is available at http://www.futurefundneo.org

The International Trade Assistance Center has now become a full-service program offering trade assistance to area firms that want to achieve their full potential in the Global Marketplace.  Now serving a nineteen county area, further information is available at http://www.braintreepartners.org/itac

Now one year later, three different events take the place of and, I think, eliminate the need for another Summit.  On August 31^st the Northern Ohio IT Alliance will host the Northcoast Super Tech Thursday on the BGSU Firelands Campus in Huron.  After three successful Tech Thursday events in Mansfield and Ashland, NOITA travels to the farthest north edge of its territory to co-sponsor an event that will draw technology-oriented entrepreneurs, educators, and economic development professionals from all over Northern Ohio.  Complementary table displays will make it even easier for Mansfield and Ashland area firms and agencies to promote themselves to the rest of Northern Ohio.  Like the other Tech Thursdays, this one costs just $5, which can be paid on-line or at the door.  I have enclosed the promotional flyer, and if you are not already one of the 80 to 100 expected attendees, please join us.  This event takes place in the state-of-the-art Cedar Point Conference Center, and is cosponsored by the Ohio IT Alliance, NorTech, JumpStart, and the Regional Growth Partnership of the Toledo area.

On September 16^th, the entire sixteen county region of Northeast Ohio will have its own Summit, as the Regional Town Meeting convenes on the campus of the University of Akron.  Over 1,500 people are expected to participate in what has been billed as the largest citizen engagement in history.  The discussion will last all day and will be the most wide-ranging effort to identify and deal with the challenges facing the region.  It is imperative that our area be represented in this endeavor.  Organizers are expecting a minimum of nineteen participants from Ashland County and 46 from Richland County.  This is a great chance for our voices to be heard and there is no cost to participate.  For those who don’t wish to drive to Akron, there will be buses leaving early that morning from Ashland Economic Development and Braintree.  Registration information is available at http://www.voiceschoices.org.  For those unable to make the trip, you still have the opportunity to participate by completing the on-line choice book exercise also found at that website.

And finally on October 10^th, JumpStart will bring its popular “exchange event” to Richland and Ashland Counties with an exciting evening get-together at the Mansfield Art Center.  The JumpStart Exchange has a proven history of bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, community leaders, and economic development professionals, all with the goal in mind of promoting technology-based entrepreneurship.  We hope you will mark your calendar.  In addition to the “business-after-hours” format with hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar, there will be brief presentations by some of the area’s leading innovative entrepreneurs, including Dr. Jim Copeland, who was recognized at the Summit for his technology commercialization.

So as you can see, much has happened, and much is happening as we speak.  I hope you will make note of these three events and join us as we continue our journey into our technology future.