The human side of TechConnecting

A seasoned entrepreneur living in Elkhart has successfully launched several flourishing ventures and has a wealth of experience to offer.

A brilliant scientist in South Bend has developed an innovative technology with a wide array of potential real-world applications, but has little knowledge of how the commercialization process works.

Each could benefit greatly from the other’s skills and interests. Yet neither one knows of the other’s existence.

So how do you get them together?

‘Connective tissue’

James Stoffel, executive partner of the Trillium Group LLC and consultant to the MTC initiative

That is precisely the challenge that Michiana TechConnection is addressing in the human capital portion of its work.

It’s not enough simply that experienced potential mentors and advisers exist in the region, says James Stoffel, executive partner of the Trillium Group LLC and consultant to the MTC initiative.

They have to connect with innovators of new technologies.

“We need to build the connective tissue that will bring them together,” Stoffel says.

That “connective tissue” will consist of three essential components:
• Entrepreneur talent pool
• Venture advisors/mentor program
• Strategic advisor program

For Dave Brenner, president and CEO of Innovation Park at Notre Dame, one of the primary benefits of MTC’s work in establishing these “connective tissues” is its assistance in identifying prospective regional partners who are interested and prepared to explore new vistas.

“A park like ours depends on corporate partners,” Brenner says. “MTC activities are really providing a deep dive into regional prospects. It goes beyond generic descriptions to really help everyone understand who is doing what, why and where. It’s vitally important to understand the regional corporate context of assets and needs. “

“For our client companies and other ventures that emerge from universities, we need to find qualified and interested partners,” he says. “Proximity then allows them to work out the issues together.”

Commercialization enablers

MTC defines these mentors and entrepreneurs as enablers: the human capital with the expertise and resources to enable a new business to thrive.

“We already have some strategic advisers and entrepreneurs in the region who are deeply experienced,” Stoffel says. “But we don’t have them in adequate numbers. We need a steady flow and a foundation of them to build the community back to where we were.”

The large manufacturers that once employed vast numbers of workers have long gone, and they no longer represent the true source of economic growth. As a result, the business environment that once supported those large companies has gradually vanished, taking with it the collective expertise of people engaged in interconnected enterprises.

By contrast, a significant portion of all new jobs in the United States in recent years has been created by new and small businesses. To restore an environment that supports new businesses will require that the structures must be rebuilt in a way that reflects the new economic realities.

Stoffel is confident that it can happen in Michiana.

“This is really transformational,” he says. “You can transform a region. You can take an environment which has many declining businesses and bring 21st-century growth participation to that environment.”

Institutions of higher learning

There are roles for secondary and post-secondary groups to play in the transformation. Some of them — such as Notre Dame and Purdue University — have already undergone significant transformations to establish themselves as research universities that contribute to the world through the commercialization of intellectual property.

Although Indiana University South Bend and Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend may choose to follow similar paths, it is important for each institution to define its own role.

“The two items that each institution can contribute are, first, intellectual property and innovation, and second, talent,” Stoffel says. “All four of these institutions can contribute those elements.”

Building on fundamentals

Stoffel sees enormous potential for growth in Michiana.

“We don’t have to import large numbers of people, and I don’t think we need a brain swap,” he says, explaining that strong entrepreneurial talent already exists in many locally owned businesses. Many of the skills they have developed to run those businesses are similar to the skills needed to run a high-tech business. They need guidance and tools.

Indeed, MTC has already initiated some of the conversations with mentors, advisers and entrepreneurs to bring those people together.

“At the highest level, we’re taking the first step in defining what it will take to increase the number of people who can enable commercialization,” Stoffel says. “We have identified a number of people with the expertise to determine what programs and processes we will need to develop the human capital in Michiana.

“It all comes down to building on the fundamentals — that, plus a lot of will and confidence,” he says. “I’m very excited. I believe we can help transform Michiana into a vibrant environment that supports new high-tech ventures.”