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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