| | | M-TEC to host two start-up companies, more on the way
With two start-up companies already committed to locate there and another three in the wings, a $450,000 outfitting of 5,000 square feet on the second level of the Michigan Technical Education Center into business space has been approved by the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Board of Trustees.
"This fits in with what the M-TEC was designed to do in workforce training and economic development," said M-TEC director James DeHaven, "and is in sync with the community’s strategy in response to the Pfizer Inc.’s announcements."
He said the Southwest Michigan First Innovation Center, based on that portion of the Western Michigan University campus along U.S. 131, will attract research-and-development initiatives that require "wet labs" for ongoing testing, while the newly reconfigured west wing of the M-TEC at KVCC will be housing pharmaceutical-related enterprises that do not require those kinds of hands-on activities along with other new start-up businesses.
Already committed to the M-TEC incubator space, which will be designed and installed by January, are DKb Technologies and Information Solutions. Three additional "start-ups" will be coming aboard within the next three months, DeHaven said.
The second level of the M-TEC at KVCC was always intended to serve as incubator space as part of its workforce-development mission, DeHaven said. With the project approved last Tuesday night, half of the 10,000 square feet of space will be customized and outfitted to serve as offices for between 30 and 40 people in the start-up companies.
The M-TEC at KVCC is located in The Groves the college’s business-education-technology park off of 9th Street and I-94.
Information Solutions specializes in searching for biomedical and pharmaceutical literature and creating data bases of that literature. "We are looking forward to relocating to the M-TEC incubator space early next year," said owner Liga Greenfield. "It will accommodate our planned expansion in staff and services. I am really energized by the prospects.
"We are grateful for the variety of support services and opportunities offered by M-TEC," Greenfield said. "This is a chance to grow our company in cooperation and with support of other like-minded pharmaceutical and technology-oriented businesses."
Patricia Ruppel, a co-founder of DKb Technologies with James Dancy, envisions a growth in staff from two to 14 within two years. Their life-sciences enterprise amasses scientific data to serve research-and-development functions in such areas as gene expression (how a gene’s coded information is converted and operates in a cell), cognition testing, MRI image analysis, and pharmacogenomics (the study of how a person’s individual genetic makeup affects the body’s response to drugs).
"The excellent conferencing and information-technology
infrastructure at the M-TEC are especially important to us as providers of data warehousing and statistical services," Ruppel said. "M-TEC's intent to assist start-ups with flexible leasing arrangements, shared services and the opportunity to co-locate with other start-ups makes this a very attractive opportunity for us. "
"We have been told," said DeHaven, a Pfizer retiree with 36 years of service who resigned from the KVCC governing board to accept the M-TEC directorship, "that these kinds of start-up companies - - the ones that do not need wet labs — like the idea of co-location because they share common customers, interests and spheres of operations. The other 5,000 square feet on the second floor will remain available for future development."
DeHaven explained that one of the college’s latest initiatives, its Emerging Technology Center (ETC) that also operates out of the M-TEC, will come into play for the start-ups upstairs, for the wet-lab researchers at the Innovation Center, and for any other new enterprise that is formed.
The ETC is described as a non-profit venture that provides business and administrative services to start-up and existing enterprises so they can concentrate on their prime missions of research, science and manufacturing.
By making arrangements for the essential nuts-and-bolts of running and managing a business, the ETC allows scientific researchers to pursue product development, new manufacturers to make and deliver their goods, and budding enterprises to market their services.
The ETC will assist new and existing ventures with such core business functions as: accounting and billing; financial services including banking, cash flow and auditing; regulatory compliance; facilities operations; office management; human resources and benefits administration; information technology; financing and applying for grants; purchasing logistics; insurance and risk management; and advertising and public relations.
ETC clients are thus freed from many of the day-to-day administrative requirements of running a business. It allows them to concentrate on what they do best — pursue ventures and projects in research and development, in manufacturing, and in providing services. They are able to order what they need for their enterprises cafeteria-style. A full range of services can be provided, or just a few.
Likely prospects for setting up in either the M-TEC or the Innovation Center, as well as for ETC assistance, are the recipients of $2 million in Michigan Life Sciences Corridor funding that was earmarked by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to keep former Pfizer scientists and managers in Southwest Michigan. Indications are that 11 companies will be launched, providing employment for around 190 people.
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