Purdue News

June 4, 1999 Purdue, Penn State team up for business development WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Banking on the idea that the resources of two research parks are better than one, Purdue and Pennsylvania State universities have established a one-of-a-kind collaborative agreement. "By joining forces, each university-affiliated park can offer more staff and faculty expertise for new business start-ups and other research park tenants," said Stan Mithoefer, director of real estate for the Purdue Research Park. "Both universities are large land-grant institutions, and both have established, noncompetitive research parks that are helping to launch new businesses and contribute to economic development in their respective states and local regions." Mithoefer said the histories, geographies and building efforts of the two parks have been very different, but both face the same challenges and opportunities. "Future economic growth in each respective community would be enhanced by the creation of new high-tech start-ups -- often initiated by faculty," he said. "The return on each state's investment in its universities is enhanced by the successful commercialization of technology from the research activities." Both Purdue and Penn State have created new business incubators in their research parks to facilitate technology transfer initiatives and to foster the growth of developing companies. "There is a lot to be gained from this collaboration," said Karen Dickinson, associate director of prospect development for Penn State. "The networking opportunities and the exchange of ideas are two invaluable business tools the Penn State-Purdue partnership will provide." According to the agreement, the purpose of the relationship is to help both the Purdue Research Foundation and Penn State University expand their research parks and to give start-up companies a broader set of resources to aid in their development. "Hopefully, we can learn from each other as we work with businesses in commercializing technology," said Mithoefer. "For instance, the research park at Purdue has been around a little longer than the Penn State park, so we can offer advice on park growth and share our experiences with our Penn State colleagues." Both new business incubator programs are committed to helping new companies grow through networking. One example is Purdue's Gateways Program that utilizes mentoring, resource referral, and office support to provide start-ups with an infrastructure to get a new product or technology to market. "In addition to marketing support or business development, the program networks entrepreneurs with mentors among Purdue alumni and others who have distinguished themselves in their specific area of business," said Sam Florance, director of the Gateways Program. "Our partnership with Penn State will only broaden the available resources, contacts and base of support for entrepreneurs at both parks." But entrepreneurs won't be the only beneficiaries, says John Schneider, assistant vice president of Industry Research and Outreach at Purdue. "The research experience and career opportunities for both of our student populations should be greatly enhanced by this partnership as well," he said. The Penn State research park also could offer Purdue tenants the use of a conference center and meeting space closer to potential East Coast customers or vendors. Other possible areas of collaboration are advertising, promotions, staff training and the sharing of technical costs. The two universities will kick off their partnership with a meeting at Purdue in early summer. Source: Stan Mithoefer, (765) 494-1727; smithoef@purdue.edu Sam Florance, (765) 496-6246; florance@purdue.edu Karen Dickinson, (814) 865-5925; kld12@psu.edu John Schneider, (765) 494-5532; jaschneider@purdue.edu Writer: Kate Walker, (765) 494-2073; kate_walker@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page