IP Marketing Advisor Discusses "Operation Bootstrap"

SIU combines tech fair with entrepreneurship training in "Operation Bootstrap"

Many universities sponsor showcases to give inventors the opportunity to present their technologies to potential investors and partners. A growing number also sponsor courses on entrepreneurism to prepare would-be start-up leaders for the real world. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale has taken an approach that combines both strategies. Its most recent innovation showcase was preceded by a 12-week course, many sessions taught by alumni and others who have achieved entrepreneurial success. The structure of the course was based on FastTrac TechVenture, a program developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

“About two years ago one of our offices of economic development’s entrepreneurship committee got funding for entrepreneurial training for low- to moderate-income folks,” recalls Kyle Harfst, PhD, MBA, executive director of the Southern Illinois Research Park and director of technology & enterprise development at SIU Carbondale. The new program, dubbed Operation Bootstrap, followed the Kauffman model, and though it was limited by income requirements it “piqued some interest” in the university community.

The Kauffman program, explains Lynn Andersen, MBA, director of business and research in SIU’s Office of Economics and Regional Development, is designed specifically for the type of group she and Harfst had in mind — university-based scientists. Kauffman offers training and certification to allow others to offer its training. Individuals who achieve certification are then eligible to purchase the curriculum and facilitate their own program. The cost of the course, she says, ranges from $1,200 to $1,500 per participant. A detailed article on the program appears in the May 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.