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INNOVATE ST. LOUIS
Enhancing the Entrepreneurial Climate in the Region
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By Shera Dalin
In its first year, Innovate St. Louis, the homegrown
effort to give entrepreneurship a boost in the region, has recently
launched a mentoring program, formed a high-powered board of
dedicated volunteers and attracted start-up funding.
“Our mission is to markedly enhance entrepreneurship and innovation
in the St. Louis region,” says Dr. William Peck, Innovate St.
Louis chairman and director of the Center for Health Policy
at Washington University. “We do this in various ways and in
collaboration with civic organizations, institutions of higher
learning and governments.
“We want to make St. Louis a real hub of innovation in the country
and the world.”
The organization, formed in May 2006 as an outgrowth of the
RCGA’s Technology Gateway Alliance, established two initiatives:
the Coalition for Information Technology and the Innovation
Venture Mentoring Service.
And just this spring recruited Frank Stokes, retired Monsanto
Company executive, CEO of Innovate St. Louis. Active in the
St. Louis region’s Critical Technologies initiative in the mid-1990s,
and a key leader at the St. Louis RCGA in developing the St.
Louis region’s highly successful “BioBelt” plant and medical
sciences industry sector strategy, Stokes brings strong background
to his new post.
“Innovate St. Louis hopes to raise the level of innovation and
entrepreneurship across our region in a sustainable way. We
believe this will ultimately improve the quality of life for
all,” Stokes notes. “Ours is a long term effort. There is no
silver bullet. But through a combination of targeted programs
and broader capacity building, we think we can make a meaningful
difference.”
“Continued progress by St. Louis must include a steady flow
of innovations and successful entrepreneurs,” Stokes notes.
“Innovate St. Louis, in collaboration with others, wants to
help accelerate this flow and thus contribute to a sustainable
future for our region.”
Innovate St. Louis had a first-year budget of about $250,000
through start-up seed funding by RCGA and Civic Progress, but
Peck expects year two contributions of $350,000 for 2008 from
broad base of funding sources.
The goal is to improve the region’s economy, in part, by making
it known as an innovation center, and not just in life sciences,
Peck says.
Key to that mission is generating interest in St. Louis’ students
to become information technology workers and, once they complete
their education, to remain in the area to fill emerging IT jobs.
“There is no economic prosperity without digital prosperity.
All research indicates those two things are intrinsically interconnected.
There are more people at Anheuser-Busch working with ones and
zeros than beer,” notes IT Coalition director Willem Bakker.
The problem is that there are at times too few information technology
workers who want to stay in the area. Rather, they seek out
perceived better opportunities on the East and West coasts.
Keeping those workers is part of the idea behind the Emerging
Technology Forum organized by the IT Coalition, says Ron Daugherty,
whose company, Daugherty Business Solutions, sponsors the forums.
“The Emerging Technology Forum is a chance to showcase some
of the success stories that are going on in the region and giving
an additional opportunity for people to network and share common
interests,” says Daugherty, who is on the IT Coalition board
and a member of the Emerging Technology Forum Working Committee
(the committee organizes the forums).
The first two forums attracted about 100 attendees each, a strong
turnout, Daugherty says. Speakers included executives from Appistry,
Express Scripts, Scottrade and Monsanto.
“It’s showing off some of the great things that are going on
that are world-class examples of information technology driving
business value in a way that will increase the visibility and
attractiveness of the St. Louis area for professionals to stay
here,” Daugherty says.
To promote the work of the IT Coalition and the Forums, the
coalition is working on a Web portal that will highlight the
IT advancements in the region.
In the meantime, Emerging Technology Forums are scheduled quarterly
and the next is in October. Additional information is available
at www.itcoalitionstl.org.
A vibrant entrepreneurial environment is a focal point for Innovate
St. Louis.
That’s where the connections formed by the Innovate Venture
Mentoring Service enter the mix. By mentoring promising start-up
companies, workers have more local job choices with competitive,
exciting companies, says Pete Peters, director of the Innovate
Venture Mentoring Service.
“Innovation was one of the cornerstones that was identified
by the Batelle Reports done by RCGA that is necessary for business
success,” notes Peters. “If you have innovation, you have new
companies coming and you need to have support for these new
companies. Businesses succeed much better with mentoring.”
Multiple sources of free mentoring are available throughout
the region, but nearly all of them are with an individual counselor.
Innovation Venture Mentoring Service will provide entrepreneurs
with a team of experienced mentors who volunteer to work with
a protégé and nurture his or her business.
Innovate Venture Mentoring Service is modeled on a highly successful
program created by MIT seven years ago. To date, it has assisted
about 300 ventures involving 600 entrepreneurs, Peters says.
“From looking at the needs of our community—and I’m a 5th generation
St. Louisan (who is) very invested in seeing our community grow—we
need to enhance the spirit and work of entrepreneurial activities
here,” says successful entrepreneur and chief executive Heschel
Raskas, chair of the Innovate Venture Mentoring Service board.
“St. Louisans generally aren’t aware of the extent of entrepreneurial
activity that is going on here and how much it could be increased
if we provide the environment and tools for entrepreneurs to
succeed.”
Already, one of the teams has had a small success with its initial
protégé. The team guided the entrepreneur on getting a release
to pursue his IT concept from the university where he is employed.
At publication time, five entrepreneurs had been matched with
Innovate Venture Mentoring Service teams of four to five mentors.
And many more are on the horizon.
“We would consider ourselves successful if we have 34 or 35
ventures under our wing,” Raskas says.
To meet that goal, Innovate Venture Mentoring Service is actively
seeking more mentors and is asking experienced business people
to volunteer. Prospective mentors will have a wide range of
experience, ranging from marketing, financials, management,
operations, technology and more. “Their interest is really in
giving back to the community, Peters says. Those interested
in becoming mentors can contact Raskas at (314) 726-1992 or
Peters at (314) 862-IVMS. Or contact either at hraskes@raskasconsulting.com
or petepeters@innovatevms.org.
Not all of the work of Innovate St. Louis is focused on for
profit business. Another component is assisting the area’s charitable
or nonprofit organizations to become more technologically current.
“Social entrepreneurship” is viewed as a vital component of
Innovate’s mission.
But ultimately, one of the perhaps most difficult jobs of Innovate
St. Louis is changing a fundamental attitude in the region:
disdain for failure.
“The mentors become very involved in helping the entrepreneurs
think through what would help them move forward or give them
advice about what would provide them the most promising path,”
Raskas says. “There is tremendous opportunity for Innovate St.
Louis to bring together a variety of activities that can help
us realize and recognize a much stronger innovative spirit in
St. Louis.”
Stokes notes that RCGA’s recently-established New Ventures &
Capital Formation effort under Jay DeLong complements Innovate
St. Louis efforts to improve the region’s entrepreneurial environment
by providing “deal specific” assistance to growing entrepreneurs.
Innovate
St. Louis
Board of Directors |
F. Gilbert Bickell, III
Senior Vice President,
Morgan Stanley
Fr. Lawrence Biondi
President,
Saint Louis University
Cindy Brinkley
Vice-Chairman, President,
AT&T-Missouri
Maxine Clark
Chief Executive,
Build-A-Bear Workshop
William A. Danforth, M.D.
Chancellor Emeritus,
Washington University
Richard C. D. Fleming
President & CEO,
St. Louis RCGA
Thomas George, Ph.D.
Chancellor,
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Doug King
Treasurer,
President, Saint Louis Science Center
Brenda Newberry
President & CEO,
The Newberry Group
William A. Peck, M.D.
Chairman, Director,
Center for Health Policy, Washington University
Heschel Raskas, Ph.D.
Raskas Consulting L.L.C.
John Roberts
Former Executive Director,
Civic Progress
Scott Schnuck
President & CEO,
Schnuck Markets Inc.
Mark Showers
Chief Information Officer,
Monsanto Company
Frank Stokes
CEO,
Innovate St. Louis
Donald Suggs, D.D.S.
President & Publisher,
St. Louis American Newspaper
George Herbert Walker, III
Former Ambassador to Hungary
Mark S. Wrighton, Ph.D.
Chancellor,
Washington University
Doug Yaeger
Chairman, President & CEO,
The Laclede Group Inc. |
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