Business Facilities - February 2008 - (Page 50)

BUSINESS REPORT Kentucky is available to the company to help with equipment and infrastructure upgrades. Smoothstone anticipates that, in addition to its current workforce of 73 full-time employees, it will create a minimum of 20 full-time jobs by the end of 2009. INNOVATING FOR INNOVATION On top of the High-Tech Investment Pool, Kentucky also uses its SBIR-STTR Matching Funds Program to help support innovation. The only program of its kind in the nation, the SBIR-STTR Matching Funds Program is unique in the sense that it matches both Phase 1 and Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants made by the federal government to help companies bring promising new technologies to the marketplace. DCI is managing the program through a contract with the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation. Last year, 20 of Kentucky’s hightech start-ups, from industries as WHERE IDEAS BECOME GOODS The Innovation and Commercialization Center (ICC) program was created in July 2001 to aid the creation of knowledge-based companies in the state of Kentucky. The Department of Commercialization The owners of 20 Kentucky high-tech small businesses received a ceremonial check for their SBIR-STTR grants from former Governor Ernie Fletcher. diverse as human health and development, IT and communications, bioscience, energy and environmental technologies, materials science, and advanced manufacturing, were awarded a combined total of $1.9 million through the state’s SBIRSTTR Matching Funds Program. The announced matching grants range from $69,999 to $100,000 per company for its Phase 1 research, which tests the feasibility of a concept or technology. Kentucky also has started matching federal awards for Phase 2 research and development, during which a company aims to make its technology ready for commercialization. The maximum and Innovation (DCI), within the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, contracts with the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation to administer the ICC program, which consists of six regional ICCs (each affiliated with a state university) and state match for Phase 2 federal awards is up to $500,000 per year for up to two years. The opportunity for recipients of Phase 1 and Phase 2 federal awards to earn up to $1.1 million in matching funds from Kentucky has drawn attention to the program from high-tech firms in other states that are interested in relocating to Kentucky. Companies eligible for the matching funds must be located in Kentucky or commit to relocating to Kentucky within 60 days, after which they can begin receiving the matching grant. The companies must also agree to remain in Kentucky for at least five years. “This innovative program is a perfect example of the type of outsidethe-box thinking that will enhance and grow Kentucky’s new economy,” says Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Secretary John Hindman. “It shows we are committed to supporting our hightech small businesses as Kentucky moves toward a more knowledgebased, high-tech economy.” six local Innovation Centers (ICs). ICCs and ICs are public/private partnerships that assist entrepreneurs and scientists in the state with commercializing promising technologies. Ultimately, this program increases the possibility that Kentucky’s smaller high-tech businesses will form locally and find private investors or other external funding, such as the HighTech Investment Pool and the Rural Innovation Fund. From 2002 through December 2007, the ICC program helped start up 390 new client companies, create a total of 1,933 jobs, and generate $12.8 million in new state tax revenues. The ICC at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY 50 FEBRUARY 2008 PHOTO CREDIT: KENTUCKY CABINET

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Business Facilites - February 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots Corporate Moves: Texas Capturing the Creative Class Green with Energy Automotive Opportunities in a Green Economy Corporate Moves: Wyoming Metro Spotlight: Overland Park, KS Metro Spotlight: Long Island, NY Get Ahead in Alabama Indiana: Sending Tech Messages How to Successfully Negotiate a Lease in Today's Real Estate Environment Legislation Spurring Innovation in Kentucky New Center will Propel Ontario's Automotive Future Virginia's Vital Signs Eating Well in the North of France Advertiser Index Ask the Expert

Business Facilities - February 2008

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