Connecting companies to research assets faster: the Tennessee Innovation Exchange model

The Tennessee Innovation Exchange (TNIX) is a statewide initiative designed to make it easier for companies, entrepreneurs, and investors to connect with university research expertise across Tennessee. In this recent TBED Community of Practice webinar, speakers Chuck Layne of LaunchTN and Tom Kissane of Halo Sciences explained how they partnered with six research universities to build a shared digital platform that supports university-industry collaboration and commercialization. 

The Tennessee Innovation Exchange (TNIX) is a statewide initiative designed to make it easier for companies, entrepreneurs, and investors to connect with university research expertise across Tennessee. In this recent TBED Community of Practice webinar, speakers Chuck Layne of LaunchTN and Tom Kissane of Halo Sciences explained how they partnered with six research universities to build a shared digital platform that supports university-industry collaboration and commercialization.

Recent Research: What two new studies tell us about innovation networks

Two recent research papers approach entrepreneurship and innovation from very different perspectives but arrive at a similar conclusion about how regional economies grow and change over time. Keeping technology-based economic development (TBED) initiatives proactively thinking about and addressing that evolution is a central aspect of all SSTI TBED-focused programming. Empirical research, like is discussed below, provides external evidence of how needs are changing and programs may want to adapt. 

Items I’ve read recently that will influence my understanding of future TBED policy

Stats and pundits suggest fewer of us are taking the time to read, absorb, and embody what we can take from real, printed books. Humbug! This is a short piece with nods to those Digest subscribers defiantly resisting that trend—and welcoming all others to embrace the mind-expanding opportunities a long read—replete with physical page turning—can yield. Fully safe for work. ~ Mark Skinner, President & CEO, SSTI 

Stats and pundits suggest fewer of us are taking the time to read, absorb, and embody what we can take from real, printed books. Humbug! This is a short piece with nods to those Digest subscribers defiantly resisting that trend—and welcoming all others to embrace the mind-expanding opportunities a long read—replete with physical page turning—can yield. Fully safe for work. ~ Mark Skinner, President & CEO, SSTI

TBED Works: The NJEDA’s Strategic Innovation Centers aim to ignite technology-based economic development

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wants the federal government to receive a return on funding awarded for R&D, innovation and economic development. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority has financed a dozen various technology innovation initiatives with the same expectation for the state’s money. Here’s how NJEDA says it's working.

TBED Works: "Sticky" student innovators provide opportunity for longer relationships, larger outcomes

Campus entrepreneurship programs can lead to decades-long collaborations between academia and industry. Students may learn how to do their very first pitch deck. Or make a poster presentation. Or stand in front of a group of investors. And then go on to found a successful company (or two, or three) and create jobs for people in the area.

TBED 101: Technology readiness and market funding gaps point to need for TBED support

Note: Every profession has jargon. Practitioners of technology-based economic development know the field may have more than its fair share of confusing words and acronyms as it bridges numerous scientific and engineering disciplines, business and financial acumen, and public-private initiatives at all levels of government supporting regional innovation. This occasional series from the SSTI team provides introductions or reminders of some of the key concepts used across the practice. ~ Mark Skinner, SSTI President & CEO  

TBED Works: NCBiotech supports early-stage startups that ultimately shine

Most startups begin rich in vision but poor in financial support. Some founders have been known to go to great lengths to advance what they know to be worthwhile project. Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio), established in 2001, survived its earliest days with the help of bake sales held by families whose children had muscular dystrophy and believed in the startup's potential to develop treatments for the condition. When Lindy Biosciences was founded in 2017, its founder was not financially compensated for her time. However, after early assistance from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBiotech), both companies now have  market values measured in billions of dollars.