The new Business Engagement Center, scheduled to open early next year, will provide one-stop shopping for businesses and industry researchers seeking University expertise.
“Among its many functions, it serves as an information portal for the outside world, where people can go and immediately get connected, in a knowledgeable and proactive way, with faculty members who have expertise that might overlap with the needs of that company,” says Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest.
The center is part of the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) campuswide effort to strengthen U-M ties to industry and to help resuscitate Michigan’s economy. The campaign also includes the Michigan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, a fledgling partnership between Michigan universities and philanthropic foundations announced last month by President Mary Sue Coleman.
The Business Engagement Center, a collaboration between OVPR and the Office of Development, will move initially to the Galleria Building, 1214 S. University Ave. The building is on the southeastern edge of the Central Campus, between Church Street and South Forest Avenue.
The Office of Technology Transfer (OTR) will move to the same building, leaving Wolverine Tower to be closer to campus and downtown Ann Arbor. The move signals a redoubled effort to create more startup companies and engage more faculty and students in entrepreneurial activities.
With funding from the Office of the Provost, the business center will start with two full-time employees who will assist walk-in visitors and respond to telephone calls and e-mails. Meeting rooms also will be available at the center.
A permanent home, which could involve other University units, is being planned.
“Think of it as a concierge service, a place that connects needs to solutions,” Ken Nisbet, executive director of OTR, says of the Business Engagement Center. “The staff will have information and connections to quickly link outside partners to the people and resources of the university.”
Individual schools and colleges — such as the College of Engineering — already have similar programs in place, but it has never been attempted universitywide. officials studied what other universities are doing and borrowed ideas from several of them, including the University of Minnesota, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Georgia Tech.
And how will Forrest measure the Business Engagement Center’s effectiveness?
“The faculty and companies have to know it’s there, and use it. So if it has a lot of traffic, that’s a sign of success,” he says. “And we might also see an incremental increase in the number of agreements between the University and companies.”
