Illinois Boosts TBED Strategy with New Entrepreneurship Initiatives

With rumors of recession building, several of the nation’s governors are announcing new TBED-focused initiatives in 2008 – many of which will be presented to lawmakers for funding in the coming months. In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich unveiled two new initiatives encouraging entrepreneurship to grow high-technology businesses throughout the state.

 

Both initiatives focus on supporting new and serial entrepreneurs with developing and commercializing technologies. The Entrepreneurship in Residence Program (EIR) provides mentorship by pairing experienced entrepreneurs with young entrepreneurs to help them start new businesses. The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC) will administer the program through a grant totaling $860,000 awarded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The CEC will select qualified entrepreneurs to enroll in the EIR program who, in turn, will identify promising technologies and match them with young entrepreneurs. The goal is to help them start a business and move toward a first round of financing. Each EIR-approved business is eligible to receive up to $80,000 for prototype development, technology assessments, intellectual property protection and market assessments.  

 

The second initiative, called the IL-Celerate Program, will guide young entrepreneurs as they develop technology companies through a 12-week process that ends with the completion of a prototype-stage product or service. The Illinois Technology Association (ITA) will initially sponsor five seed-stage companies through the process, awarding grants of up to $15,000. IL-Celerate participants also receive incubation services such as office space, furniture, Internet access, phone service, and conference facilities in ITA’s 26,000-square-foot technology community center, TechNexus. Total funding for the program is $120,000.

 

Elsewhere in the country, states have announced similar initiatives supporting entrepreneurship as part of an overall TBED strategy. Hoping to garner support from lawmakers in the coming legislative session, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty unveiled a $70 million rural entrepreneurship initiative to facilitate new business development through networks, seed funding and tax exemptions (see the Oct. 3, 2007 issue of the Digest).

 

In Ohio, the TechLift initiative was created earlier this year through the state’s Third Frontier Program to provide direct services to entrepreneurs in five signature technologies throughout the northeast region, including advanced materials, biosciences, electronics, information and communication technologies, and advanced energy (see the Oct. 10, 2007 issue of the Digest).

 

More information on the Entrepreneur in Residence and IL-Celerate programs are available at: http://www.commerce.state.il.us/dceo/News/homepage_pr12132007.htm