New center to help entrepreneurs create new businesses in area

Peoria, Illinois...September 26, 2002...A grant of $422,941 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) has been awarded to Bradley University to establish a center in Peoria that will work with researchers, inventors, and entrepreneurs to transfer new technologies and innovations into commercial enterprises. The announcement came today from Governor George Ryan.

"My administration has committed substantial resources to improve our state's technology infrastructure and the skills of our workforce in order to support our technology-based economy," said Governor Ryan. "These ITEC centers are yet another step in improving IllinoisÕ competitiveness in the global, high-tech economy through the support of entrepreneurs and innovators."

The Heartland Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (HITEC), a stand-alone organization affiliated with Bradley, will be staffed by a director, an account manager, and an office administrator. Offices will be located at the NCAUR Ag Lab in Peoria.

The HITEC staff, in cooperation with the business assistance centers in the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship at Bradley, the NCAUR Ag Lab, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Caterpillar Inc., the Biotechnology Research and Development Corporation (BRDC), and the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center will help transform the new technologies and innovations of the region into successful enterprises.

"This Center will take the work of Peoria NEXT to the implementation stage using the extensive research and technology assets committed to the project by the strategic partners of this initiative," said Dr. Stan Liberty, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. "It is another cooperative effort that employs the knowledge of people and resources of the institutions in our area to improve our economic base."

The HITEC will provide support for new technology ventures by assisting entrepreneurs, innovators, and start-up firms in high-growth, high technology sectors. The Center will provide hands-on business development and commercialization assistance in all phases of development including company formation, research, commercialization, strategy formulation and product launch. Services will include management coaching, risk assessment, market development, and access to financing.

"Opportunities for new commercial enterprises in Central Illinois may arise in a number of technological areas including the life sciences, engineering science, and information science," said Roger Luman, Managing Director of Bradley's Turner Center for Entrepreneurship. "If we provide the proper support and incentives for the establishment and retention of such new ventures in the region there will be a positive impact on the growth and diversification of the local economy."

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) administers funding for the ITEC centers.

For more information about the services HITEC offers clients, call the office at 681-6504.