Brain power: universities boost economic development.

Indiana should stop comparing itself negatively to California.

So says Donald F. Kuratko, executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. "The latest ranking (of entrepreneur programs) in U.S. News & World Report showed two in California and three from Indiana. We outnumbered the California schools. I'm proud of that. That says a lot about Indiana. And I'm proud at IU to know that Entrepreneur magazine ranked it No. 4 in the nation, the only one in Indiana."

From certified technology parks to tech transfer to MBA and high-tech training programs, Indiana's public and private colleges and universities play a vital role in the state's economic development.

Entrepreneurial assistance. Although some graduates may start their own companies, churning out entrepreneurs is not the primary goal of IU's program, says Kuratko. Graduating MBAs with skills that can help entrepreneurial companies succeed is what it's all about. Careers will likely be in commercial banking, with a venture-capital firm or in consulting. Courses targeted to those areas coupled with hands-on internships for two years during grad school prepare students for the challenge.

Life sciences may be getting most of the buzz right now, but information technology remains important to Indiana's future, says Kuratko. "Don't listen to those in California telling us it's dried up." And while 1T used to mean Purdue and Rose-Hulman, many schools are involved in different ways now, such as the School of Informatics at IU.

Kuratko was lured to IU Bloomington last fall after a two-decade career at Bail State University, where he was distinguished professor of entrepreneurship and founding director of the highly ranked entrepreneurship program in the Miller College of Business.

Applications are now being taken by the Johnson Center for the first annual Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction, to be announced October 20 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis. To be eligible, Indiana companies must be founded before 2002 and have revenues exceeding $1 million. The three categories are Indiana Entrepreneurial Growth, requiring a 35 percent increase in revenue in the previous two-year period; Indiana Entrepreneurial Spirit, for demonstrating risk-taking behavior with perseverance from lessons learned; and Indiana Entrepreneurial Innovator, for pioneering new systems or products or developing best practices for an industry.

Once honored, companies will be matched with IU students who can help them with the challenges they face while providing students with an invaluable experience within a dynamic organization.

Certified technology parks. The big news at the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette is the new engineering design services center announced by Florida-based Butler International. Butler will provide contract services for Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a leader in the design, manufacture and service of advanced helicopters, including the H-60 "Blackhawk."

Butler is expected to hire about 200 this year, 350 by 2007. "We've got assurances that 80 percent of all these jobs will likely be brand-new Purdue graduates," says Joe Hornett, senior vice president and treasurer of the Purdue Research Foundation. Fifty to 60 grads have been added to the payroll since January, including those with new bachelor degrees in fluid engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering and chemical engineering. The latter is important to Sikorsky, he says, because composites can make aircraft lighter.

The reach of Purdue's research and tech-transfer programs got a little longer this spring when it announced that two life-science companies in its West Lafayette research park would open satellite offices in Purdue space at InTech Park in Indianapolis, the second certified technology park in Indianapolis and the state's only privately held one.

Endocyte is developing Purdue-patented therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases and employs 75 people, and BASi is a publicly traded drug-development firm providing contract-research services and products for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical-device industries, employing 180 in West Lafayette, 390 worldwide.

In addition, Purdue's InTech space will be headquarters for Andara Life Science, launched in April to commercialize a Purdue treatment for central nervous system injury and disease. The Indianapolis location is ideal for clinical trials at the IU School of Medicine and offers proximity to the airport plus access to support services, including business-development services previously available only at Purdue's West Lafayette and Merrillville parks.

"I think Indiana would benefit immeasurably by taking another look at the more than 30 private higher-education institutions for leadership just as it has historically done with several public institutions," says Chuck Staley, special assistant to the president for engagement at Anderson University and president and CEO of Flagship Enterprise Center. Anderson University assumed a non-traditional role as a leader in economic development with the loss of General Motors. "The reality is, we don't exist in isolation. We're inextricably linked to Anderson, Madison County and the state of Indiana."

The Flagship Enterprise Center, a 40,000-square-foot incubator in a certified technology park, opened in May It will accommodate 15 to 30 businesses needing a mere 145 square feet to 5,000, and will offer ready access to university faculty, business-management consulting services and student intern support. "The objective is not to be 100 percent occupied," says Staley "We want to be able to attract companies with the greatest promise for growth and jobs." In Anderson, that means electronic technology.

The area has "profound electrical-engineering expertise," says Staley; at one time there were 27,000 working in the field. "We haven't done a good job of embracing it. If we don't embrace it, we'll lose it."

Anderson, Purdue, IU and more than a dozen major companies including Remy International in Anderson are working to establish a Center for Power Electronics in conjunction with the Flagship Enterprise Center. It would capitalize on Indiana's capacity to produce advanced energy technologies, including high-efficiency electric motors, hybrid and electric cars, fuel cells and distributed power, all valuable energy assets for the future.

In Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana is the education partner for the Digital Downtown Certified Technology Park opening in September. It will assist in business-plan development and pursuit of venture capital, and will provide engineering consulting and applied research assistance--putting theory into practice. Students will be available for co-ops and internship programs.

Building Better Communities. Over the years, Ball State has been involved with economic-development projects in all 92 counties, says Elaine Fisher, director of the Center for Economic and Community Development, utilizing just about every program in the university. Now, with the establishment of the Building Better Communities program within the center, there's a single gateway for assistance. "When a community needs assistance, we go find the faculty or staff member with experience and put the two together."

Building Better Communities received $2.5 million from the Indiana General Assembly in 2003 and leverages additional funds from the communities requesting assistance. Twenty-five projects have begun, including a project in Brown County addressing how that area, known for its arts and culture, could build on those strengths. In Fort Wayne, Ball State was invited to update a comprehensive plan prepared in 2000, focusing on a regional approach to growth, the wave of the future, says Fisher.

Brain gain. At the University of Indianapolis, involvement in economic development has been growing for 10 years, says Mitch Shapiro, dean of the school of business. The transition from ivory tower to involved community leader is one he relishes.

When Lilly Endowment awarded grants to colleges and universities to stem the state's brain drain a couple years ago, U of I created the Institute for Emerging Careers, dubbed the "brain-gain institute." Many careers are being identified and white papers by faculty are available on its Web site, including bioinformatics and logistics, but Shapiro highlights an area that is ripe for Indiana and the university.

Careers in enterprise resource planning, or ERP--which integrates all business functions, including planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing--is also a priority, he says, and only a handful of software companies dominate the market. "We want to be the leading university in Indiana that integrates ERP throughout the entire curriculum. We hope to have tremendous support from companies that make these systems." U of I is developing a specialty in ERP for accounting and information-system majors.

Indiana Wesleyan University is part of the Innovative Network, a collaborative effort with Taylor University, Ivy Tech State College, the Marion Grant County Chamber of Commerce and the Grant County Economic Growth Council to boost economic development in a county with devastating job losses. Much of the funding is from Lilly Endowment's brain-drain grants.

For its part in the program, Indiana Wesleyan established an internship program, matching students to local Marion employers. The university's reach, however, has grown far beyond its main campus there, and it is now the largest business school in the state, says Mark Smith, vice president for adult and graduate studies, overtaking the Kelley School of Business at IU.

Outside Marion, its major education centers include two in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, MerrilMlle, Columbus, Kokomo and Shelbyville, focusing on the adult learner. In Shelbyville, its new building in Intelliplex makes it an integral partner in training workers for the life-science businesses that the certified technology park hopes to attract.

Taylor University in Upland used its Lilly grant to form the Center for Research and Innovation early last year to stimulate new product development and help graduates start their own companies in its incubator. Datalites, formed by two new computer engineering grads, will provide custom wireless solutions and consulting, and Synergy Computing Solutions will refine its BloodStat lab report software.

Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction New program announced by Donald E Kuratko, executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.