THE 21ST CENTURY JOBS FUND

• The Development and Commercialization of Competitive-Edge Technologies
• Risk Capital Availability
• Commercial Lending Activity

THE SYMPOSIUM

BREAKFAST (BALL ROOMS 1 – 6)

• Welcome – Ned Staebler, Vice President, Capital Access & Business Acceleration, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
• Sponsor Comments – Denyse Ferguson, CEO, LEAP, Inc.
• CEO Comments – Greg Main, President & CEO, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
• Keynote Speaker – First Gentleman, Dan Mulhern
• Morning Agenda Overview – Leslie Lynn Smith, Director of Business Acceleration, Michigan Economic Development Corporation

Managing Capital Lifecycle Demands – Room 101

As companies progress through the capital lifecycle and through the investigation and seed stages towards growth and maturity, they wrestle with critical gaps in such areas as talent, management, operations, marketing and board membership. This panel, comprised of practitioners who have advised and guided companies through such gaps, will discuss experiences, strategies, successes and resources for Michigan companies to find the necessary help towards overcoming capital lifecycle demands.

• Michael Finney President and CEO, SPARK

• Thomas Zurbuchen Associate Dean for Entrepreneurial Programs & Founding Director The Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE), University of Michigan
• Jeff Bocan Managing Director, Beringea
• Phil Tepley Technology Team Coordinator Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center (MI-SBTDC)
• Bill Foley Director of Innovation, The Right Place Inc.
• Ron Reed Managing Director, Seneca Partners

Accessing University Technology – Banquet Room 7

How do you find what technology is available for license?  What do you license?  What are the types of licenses?  How do you negotiate a license to use or purchase?  This panel session will help answer these questions and provide insight for entrepreneurs and companies looking to implement new technology by recognizing the value of new technology and the willingness to make the investment necessary to bring it to market.  The first process to technology commercialization starts with an initial discovery and securing license agreements, which ultimately leads to the development of new products.

• Marvin Parnes Associate Vice President & Executive Director of Research, University of Michigan

• Jon E. Shackelford Attorney at law, Dickinson Wright PLLC
• John SantaLucia Jr. Professor, Wayne State University
• Jack Luderer, M.D. Executive Director Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center, Western Michigan University
• David Parsigian Managing Partner, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP

Angel Investing in Michigan – Room 103

Why and how are angel investors useful and important?  Who are they and how do you find them?  How does a company in Michigan profit from their use and what is the cost of using them?  Angel investors can help a business in Michigan get off the ground.  This panel will discuss incentives and activities which encourage angel activities in the state.

• Terry Cross, Founder, Windward Associates

• Rick Galdi  President, Great Lakes Angels
• Chris Moultrup Program Director, MidMichigan Innovation Center
    Associate Director, BlueWater Angels
• Bob Savage President, Savage Consulting
• Michael Cole President, Industry Technology Group, Bank of Ann Arbor

The Measurement of Success in an Incubator – Banquet Room 8

This paneled session will discuss and define factors and highlight initiatives that Michigan incubators can and have focused on to contribute optimally to the hosted companies. Panelists, comprised of representatives from the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center (Kalamazoo), MidMichigan Innovation Center (Midland), and TechTown (Detroit) will discuss challenges, opportunities and strategies for continuing to develop and nurture a robust incubator component in the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

• Thomas Anderson Ph. D., MBA  Senior Director for Entrepreneurship, Automation Alley

• Rob DeWit, Ph. D.  Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Michigan Innovation Center
• Bill Moneypenny CEO, MITECH
• Randal Charlton Executive Director, TechTown
• David Spencer Ph. D. Executive Director, SmartZone Development, Oakland University

BREAKOUT SESSION #2

This is the second offering of Breakout Session #1.  Please see Session #1 for subject matter and location.

LUNCH – BALLROOMS 1 – 6

• Keynote Speaker – Tom Ballard, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Q&A – Session – Doug Parks, Senior Vice President, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
• Afternoon Agenda Overview,  – Leslie Lynn Smith Director of Business Acceleration, Michigan Economic Development Corporation

Where’s the Money and Where Are We Heading? – Room 101

This session will discuss capital sources for your idea/company covering start up funding, angel financing, venture capital and regional, state and federal funding programs.

• LeAnn Auer, Executive Director, Michigan Venture Capital Association

• Paul Brown Manager, Capital Access, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
• Kennneth Van Heel Director, Portfolio Investments, Dow Chemical Company
• Ram May-Ron Vice President, FreeMind Group
• Lisa Kurek Managing Partner, Biotechnology Business Consultants

Intellectual Property:  Bridging the Gap between “U” and   Successful Commercialization – Banquet Room 7

This paneled session will help outline the process, whereby public research efforts can be joined with private sector product needs creating a commercialization culture that can help provide opportunities and address the barriers of new product concepts for the marketplace. What is the best way to identify academic and private sector linkages that may benefit and enhance new product research efforts with the goal of moving faculty-driven product research from inception to marketplace commercialization?  This panel of university tech transfer experts will discuss the process for bridging the current gap and address the audience’s questions for supporting the interaction between the public sector (institutions of higher education) and private sector organizations.

• Jeff Mason, Executive Director, University Research Corridor

• James R. Baker Director of Technology and Economic Development
     Michigan Technological University
• Mike Poterala Executive Director, MSU Technologies
• Judy Johncox Director of Business Services at TechTown and Venture Development Wayne State University 
• Kenneth Nisbet Executive Director, TechTransfer, University of Michigan

Venture Capitalists‘ Responsibilities in Fostering Entrepreneurship – Room 103

A discussion of what Venture Capitalists are doing and could do outside of their normal investment duties to encourage entrepreneurship in the state.

• Tom Porter Executive in Residence, Zell-Lurie, Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies

• John Banta CEO & Managing Director, IllinoisVENTURES, LLC
• Tony Grover Managing Director, RPM Ventures
• Lindsay Aspegren Managing Director, North Coast Technology Investors
• Skip Simms Director Business Accelerator Services/Manager Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, Ann Arbor SPARK

Success Stories – Banquet Room 8

This panel, comprised of growing and successful Michigan companies, is not about celebrating successes.  Rather, it is a candid and analytical approach to identifying specific contributors to their success.  Panelists will range from successful university spin-offs and companies who have bootstrapped their way to success, to companies that have flourished in organic growth and companies who were targets of large acquisitions.

• Sandy Miller, Senior Fellow in Advancing Innovation  Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

• Nano Bio - David Peralta, Vice President, Chief Operating & Chief Financial Officer,
• AFID Therapeutics - Rawle Hollingsworth, Founder & President
• TJ Technologies, Acquired by A123 Systems - Maria A. Thompson, Chief Executive Officer
• Lycera - Gary D. Glick, Ph.D., Principal
• NeuroNexus Technologies - Daryl R. Kipke, PhD., Director, President/CEO

BREAKOUT SESSION #4

This is the second offering of Breakout Session #3.  Please see Session #3 for subject matter and location.

WRAP-UP/THANK YOU – BALLROOMS 1 – 6 

Ned Staebler, Capital Access and Business Acceleration  Michigan Economic Development Corporation

Follow this link to REGISTER 

THE 21ST CENTURY JOBS FUND SYMPOSIUM IS HOSTED BY

No state offers more to creative, energetic and dedicated businesspeople: great universities training the next generation of business leaders, a workforce recognized around the globe for its skills and work ethic and a business climate among the nation’s top ten. Add to this the great quality of life we enjoy and Michigan is the place to live and play, raise a family and build a business.  

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) touches, assists and helps grow thousands of Michigan businesses each year. Our primary focus is to help companies grow in Michigan in a very competitive and challenging 21st century global economy. Whether it's an expansion, a relocation, or even a concern with another agency of state government, the MEDC can help. From site location assistance to job training grants, from help with permits to tax abatements, we're the state's economic development corporation. At the individual company level, the MEDC is a supplier of customized economic development services delivered by business development managers. At the community level, we work to assure that Michigan cities and towns are prepared to compete in the new high-technology environment.

As a public corporation created through an interlocal agreement between state and local governments, the MEDC is a liaison with local communities and agencies across the state. It is guided by a board comprised of members who represent a cross section of the state economy, business owners and executives, local economic developers and college presidents. A corporation, not a bureaucracy, our policies and procedures meet the needs of the private sector. The MEDC brings together supply and demand and matches up resources and services with the needs of our business customers.

THE 21ST CENTURY JOBS FUND SYMPOIUM IS SPONSORED BY

The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (Leap, Inc.) is an innovative private/public partnership that’s working to unify the Greater Lansing region’s resources and focus them toward strategic growth. We’re also a one-stop shop offering direct access to mid-Michigan’s myriad resources.

Leap’s goal is to be the Greater Lansing region’s driving force—one that works with our many local partners to accelerate the growth of our region’s early-stage and emerging businesses, assist our existing businesses in becoming more competitive and attract new businesses. Together, we’re leading our region to a sustainable future as a globally competitive community.

Celebrating its 60th year, Honigman is a leading Michigan-based business law firm with an international practice. Headquartered in Detroit with offices in Lansing, Oakland County, Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo, the firm has attorneys practicing in more than 40 different areas of concentration. Honigman’s highly-credentialed attorneys and staff, along with its customer-service focus, provide clients in a wide variety of industries timely and cost-effective counsel.