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April 26, 2004 Purdue Research Park's gh LLC to receive international honorWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – gh LLC, a company in the Purdue Research Park that is helping visually impaired people, has been recognized for its entrepreneurial achievements. The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) today (Monday, 4/26) will name gh LLC the 2004 Outstanding Incubator Graduate in the technology category during the NBIA's 18th International Conference on Business Incubation in Atlanta. A 2000 graduate of Gateways Program at Purdue Research Park, gh helps people with visual disabilities access information through a variety of media formats and software applications. "We are one of several companies revolutionizing the assistive technology industry," said David Schleppenbach, gh's chief executive officer. Schleppenbach and Joe Said, gh's president and chief technology officer, formed the company at Purdue Research Park in February 2000 with assistance from the park's Gateways Program, which helps entrepreneurs transfer technology innovations into the private sector. Business incubation programs like Gateways catalyze the process of starting and growing companies by providing entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their ventures successful. In 2001 alone, North American incubators assisted more than 35,000 startup companies that provided full-time employment for nearly 82,000 workers and generated earnings of more than $7 billion. According to Schleppenbach, the staff from the Gateways Program and the Purdue Research Foundation (the organization that administers the research park) provided gh with basic business advice that played a crucial role in the company's success. "We are so proud of this group's accomplishments, from the time they came to the park with a sound, high-tech business idea to the moment they learned they were being honored for achieving entrepreneurial success," said Greg Deason, the Purdue Research Foundation's director of research park development. The company also benefited from interactions with other business executives and professional service advisers who they met through the incubation program. "Without this, we would have made some pretty big mistakes," Schleppenbach said. At Purdue University, Schleppenbach and Said developed computer software to automatically translate text into Braille by using Extensible Markup Language (XML). This process provides faster and more accurate conversion to Braille than other industry processes. Traditionally, volunteers translate books into Braille by hand, and printers create master printing press plates for each page. Conversely, gh uses custom-built, high-technology Braille embossers that are like dot-matrix printers to print at least 1,300 Braille pages an hour (five to six times faster than conventional Braille printing) without the expense of creating metal plates. The company also creates computer-based electronic products, such as Digital Talking Books, electronic Braille, electronic Large Print, and fully accessible Web-based content known as READ™ products. gh clients include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Educational Testing Service, Social Security Administration, Microsoft and the state of California. The IRS, which has more than 1,200 visually impaired employees and must provide materials to employees and taxpayers with visual impairments, is gh's biggest client. From the start, Schleppenbach and Said decided to grow the company slowly, choosing to work with a local investor they met through Gateways rather than taking the venture capital route to financing. "We chose to operate with a small amount of angel investment and bootstrap cash," Schleppenbach said. "This gave us time to study our core business and understand the market before we went too far, too fast." Schleppenbach said the company has grown from three employees to more than 40 today, and is quickly outgrowing its office space at the Purdue Technology Center, the Purdue Research Park's flagship incubator. He hopes to soon break ground on a new facility. NBIA's Outstanding Incubator Graduate Award is sponsored by Turnstone, a Steelcase company, and the office furniture company specializing in products designed for the small business in every organization. The National Business Incubation Association is the world's leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. Each year NBIA honors the business incubators, client companies and graduates that exemplify the best of the industry. Purdue Research Park, Indiana's first Certified Technology Park, is home to the largest university-affiliated, state-of-the-art business incubator in the nation. Life sciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing ventures make up the majority of the more than 100 businesses located on the park's 591 acres in West Lafayette. Writer: Jeanine Phipps, media relations, Purdue Research Park, (765) 494-0748, jeanine@purdue.edu Sources: Brad Hosack, marketing, gh LLC, (765) 775-4534, engage@ghbraille.com Linda Knopp, communications manager, National Business Incubation Association, (740) 593-4331, lknopp@nbia.org |
