MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
October 13, 2011
MSU bolsters state's business, economy through innovation and entrepreneurship
Michigan State University is helping ensure that
"universities and cities
Michigan means business. Building on a tradition of
that are linking up in
collaboration with businesses and communities
creative entrepreneurial
throughout its home state, MSU is ramping up
initiatives."
efforts to support entrepreneurs, license university
technologies, and partner with the private sector to
strengthen the Michigan and U.S. economies.
To more effectively engage with the private sector,
Michigan is home to a
number of successful
spin-off companies built
on the discoveries of
in 2009 the university launched MSU Business-
MSU researchers. One
CONNECT which serves as a front door to the
such company, XG
university for companies and entrepreneurs,
Sciences Inc., is
helping them more easily leverage MSU's wealth of
partnering with Korean-
resources and knowledge. Located in East Lansing's
based technology
Technology Innovation Center in the city's business
conglomerate Hanwha
district, Business-CONNECT shares space with MSU
Group, which has
Technologies, which commercializes technologies
invested $3 million to
and materials developed by MSU researchers.
further research on a
"MSU is everywhere in the state," says Charles
Hasemann, executive director of Business-CONNECT
and interim executive director of MSU Technologies.
"We will help anyone, anywhere."
nanomaterial
discovered and
developed by an MSU
team of engineers with
applications in the automotive, aviation, and
Communication Arts and Sciences Building. The
Discoveries advance industries
consumer goods industries.
company provides opportunities for joint projects
Throughout its history, MSU has brought life-
Innovation breeds job growth
changing discoveries to individuals and
communities across the state and around the globe,
from the development of hybrid corn to the process
still used for the homogenization of milk to the
world's most effective anticancer drug. Today, as
MSU research helps find solutions to the world's
that focus on leveraging online collaborations
Often partnering with local economic development
organizations, including the Lansing Economic Area
Entrepreneurs hatch new ideas
Partnership, Prima Civitas Foundation, and the
Small businesses in Michigan that need help getting
Michigan Economic Development Corporation, MSU
their ideas off the ground can turn to several MSU
seeks to bring new businesses and jobs to Michigan.
most significant challenges, the university is
The university's vast resources and knowledge base
advancing industries that have the potential to
are attracting well-known companies that are
create new jobs in Michigan in the areas of
making Michigan—and MSU—their home. The IBM
alternative energy, medicine, biotechnology, rare
Global Delivery Center for Application Services—
isotope research, and more.
the first center of its kind in the nation—upgrades
"MSU's tech transfer office is built on a best-in-class
model," says Hasemann, who notes MSU files more
than 100 invention disclosures annually. "Our first
software for IBM systems used by governments and
entrepreneurs since its launch in 2004 and has
helped create more than 160 businesses in the state.
only ones taking advantage of the business
company INgage Networks, which develops
East Lansing as one of the 10 leading examples of
products and businesses related to food and
agriculture. The center has assisted more than 1,000
of jobs to mid-Michigan.
encourage them to participate."
the "top colleges for business," featuring MSU and
Michigan entrepreneurs develop and market new
The private sector and faculty members aren't the
Elsewhere on campus, world-leading social media
level. Entrepreneur magazine named MSU as one of
entities, including the MSU Product Center for
Agriculture and Natural Resources, which helps
corporations worldwide and has brought hundreds
priority always has been to get to know faculty and
MSU's efforts are gaining attention on a national
statewide to create jobs and retain workers.
enterprise and social media solutions to help
companies, nonprofits, and governments
collaborate online, opened a research and
development office in the College of
opportunities MSU provides. Business-minded
students pursuing any area of study have more
opportunities than ever to turn their ideas into
entrepreneurial ventures with the help of academic
offerings, competitions for start-up funding, and a
student business incubator.
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