Spark May Ignite Tech Boom

Organization to spend millions in effort to make Ann Arbor a hub
News Business Reporter – May 23,2005

By Scott Anderson

Commitments of $2 million are igniting Ann Arbor Spark, a broad effort to
cultivate the local technology economy that may also serve as a springboard
for marketing Ann Arbor as an innovation hub to the rest of the country.
After more than 18 months of discussions among private businesses, economic
groups and university officials, Spark is set to publicly launch this week.
Spark's board of directors, a group that is still evolving in membership and
number, is set to meet today.

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman is scheduled to outline
how the university will contribute to Spark in a speech Thursday at the Ann
Arbor IT Zone. The IT Zone offices, known as the Launch Pad, will serve as
Spark's headquarters and be renamed Spark Central.

U-M's Tech Transfer National Advisory Board spearheaded this effort, and U-M
has committed $1 million to Spark over five years. Organizers said they have
raised another $1 million from other donors, including Eastern Michigan
University, drugmaker Pfizer Inc. and the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow
Foundation.

The effort has several objectives, including doubling the number of
technology-based businesses in the region and tripling the number of
technology workers in five years. Projects will likely include connecting
early-stage companies with potential investors and hosting regional events.
Entrepreneur Rick Snyder, who is chairing the effort, has set a goal of
raising $3 million to fund Spark for three years, and hopes the nonprofit
organization will appoint a chief executive by the end of the summer.
"If you think about what we're trying to do, we're really trying to be a
spark - at the startup level, at the economic level, and even the state
level, in terms of being an organization that can create momentum and
sustain momentum," said Snyder, who was also named chairman of
computer-maker Gateway Inc. last week.

But Spark, which carries the slogan "Igniting Innovation," will be a
long-term project, he said.

"This won't happen overnight," he said. "This is really a 10-year effort."
Snyder founded Ardesta, an Ann Arbor investment and development firm focused
on growing microsystems companies. He also previously served as president
and vice president of Irvine, Calif.-based Gateway.

Spark, which previously went by the working title Tech Central, is U-M's
largest attempt at growing the technology business community, which includes
fields such as information technology, biotechnology, microsystems, energy,
advanced manufacturing and homeland security. It's patterned after other
technology-centric regions, such as San Diego, where the intersection of
academic research and entrepreneurs has spawned some of nation's largest
technology firms and communities.

Spark will also seek to coordinate with a variety of local business and
technology groups, including the Ann Arbor IT Zone, the New Enterprise Forum
and the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, among other groups, which have
mostly pursued their own marketing and outreach strategies.

Michael Witt, executive director of MichBio - an Ann Arbor-based group
representing the state's life sciences companies developing anything from
medical technologies to genetic treatments - said the time is right for the
Spark project.

"People in the past have criticized the university for not being very
effective for taking the technologies and commercializing them. But what
(critics) don't realize is they're cranking out a dozen companies from the
university, and that is very productive."

In 2004, the university closed licensing agreements that helped create 13
startup companies. U-M also recorded 285 invention disclosures from
researchers, up from 257 the previous year.

But it could do better on those numbers with a stronger support system to
provide what are often called "business acceleration" services, Witt said.
That includes helping entrepreneurs prove whether a particular technology
works, finding a possible market for it and examining the competitive field
of businesses, said Witt, who sees a role for Spark in helping provide those
services.

"What you need is money to help stimulate that process - that is the
greatest need," he said.

Spark is U-M's commitment to the local economy, but it's also about
fulfilling the university's research mission, said Ken Nisbet, executive
director of the university's Tech Transfer Office, which helps move academic
discoveries into the marketplace through licenses to companies.
"Attracting the best students, faculty and researchers requires both a
vibrant economy and a good quality of life. And I think Spark will
contribute to that goal," Nisbet said.

Bob Guenzel, Washtenaw County administrator, said Spark is the best effort
he has seen so far to try to bring together various groups to achieve the
goal. The government's role is to be an advocate for the process, he said.
"Those of us in governmental positions have to be at the table and help
guide this so the citizens understand the value of it," he said.

News business reporter Mike Ramsey contributed to this report. Scott Anderson can be reached at sanderson@annarbornews.com or at (734) 994-6843.