TECH COUNCIL'S SEARCH FOR A NEW HOME SLOWS; TECH COUNCIL'S SEARCH FOR NEW HOME SLOWS
BYLINE: bits&bytes CORILYN SHROPSHIRE
Plans for the Pittsburgh Technology Council to set up shop in its very own "Taj Mahal" -- as some local insiders have termed it -- have slowed, but not stopped, council officials confirmed this week.
Just before former chief Steven Zylstra's resignation in April, a staff committee led by council spokesman Kevin Lane had been canvassing real estate on the North Side, Downtown, South Side and Strip District for new digs.
Mr. Zylstra is said to have set his sights on a work space that would more than double the 24,000 square feet currently occupied by the staff of 72 employed by the council and its affiliates: the Catalyst Connection, the Doyle Center for Manufacturing Technology and the Pa. Nano-Materials Commercialization Center.
Not only would a new pad accommodate the slew of events the council hosts each week, but it also would provide a layout more conducive to team work, unlike the two floors the team currently occupies on Technology Drive in Hazelwood.
Double the space means double the rent, which at about $20 per square foot would jump to about $1 million annually.
There were even talks with well-known real estate developer John Ferchill to settle in one of his two planned buildings just down the street from the council's current headquarters.
Any move has been put on the back burner as the council and its affiliates face a possible reorganization, Mr. Lane said.
Space is just one of many decisions to be made, said John Friel, the Medrad chief who stepped up to chair the council's 50-member board earlier this year.
On Monday, Mr. Friel will gather with the board's search committee, led by former Respironics' chief executive officer Jim Liken, to hear from the executive recruiter it chose to manage the search for Mr. Zylstra's replacement -- Tom Flannery of Boyden International's local office.
On Wednesday, a task force within the 50-member board will convene its first meeting to "take a step back, address what we want to do, what's on the table," Mr. Friel added.
But when pressed for specific topics on the table -- such as rumors of low employee morale and high turnover rates, flat membership, funding and revenue sources -- board members and Mr. Friel remained mum.
"I don't want to say we're not concerned" about all those issues, Mr. Friel said. "But right now the 100-pound gorilla in the room is getting a replacement for Steve [Zylstra]."
Innovation Works' spokeswoman Terri Glueck confirmed that relocating with the council and its affiliates wasn't out of the question.
There was even talk that other tech-driven economic development groups would join in, including the Technology Collaborative and the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse.
For now however, the council has extended its current lease for another year.
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The deadline has passed on the six-month extension given by the state to Downtown private equity firm iNetworks LLC to produce matching dollars required to receive $3 million in state money for its planned $100 million BioOpportunity Fund, which would target life sciences startups around the country.
INetworks' principals Charles Schliebs and Anthony Lacenere didn't return requests for comment, but a state spokesman confirmed that the duo would not receive the investment from the PA Venture Capital Program, an initiative designed to funnel money to Pennsylvania startups by offering a $1 match for every $3 raised and committed to be spent in the Keystone State.
The Commonwealth Financing Authority, which oversees the program, already has committed $50 million of the $60 million set aside for the program, including $5 million for North Side-based Birchmere Ventures.
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There's talk in the nation's capital that President Bush has big plans for David McCormick, the former FreeMarkets chief who left after its sale to Ariba Inc. to work on international trade at the Department of Commerce. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the former Army officer, veteran of the first Gulf war and foreign policy wonk has been tapped to be the next undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs.
Dr. McCormick (his doctorate is from Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy) is serving as the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security -- a role that often puts him in a tight spot, having to negotiate that fine line between promoting U.S. business interests abroad while maintaining a grip on national security.
His new job, if and when he's confirmed, also will be focused on promoting U.S. business interests abroad -- leading conversations with countries around the globe.
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One more item of tech council news: A panel of heavy hitters in the venture capital world will gather Monday evening for another Enterprize Business Plan Competition workshop at the council's Hazelwood headquarters.
On hand to help ambitious upstarts on the road to "Funding the Dream" will be Gary Glausser, partner and chief financial officer of Birchmere Ventures; Matt Harbaugh, chief investment officer of Innovation Works; Jay Katarincic, partner of Draper Triangle Ventures; and Mel Pirchesky, president of Eagle Ventures.
The event begins at 6 p.m. and costs $25 for Enterprize Business Plan Competition participants and council members, $40 for everyone else. Register by e-mailing to events@pghtech.org or by calling 412-918-4229.