Return to the Conference Schedule Page

Monday, May 21, 2001

7:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Hewlett-Packard Business Plan Competition

Watch as three Internet start-up companies vie to be named the recipient of the HP e-scholarship award. These finalists, who were chosen by a panel of incubator professionals, will present and defend their business plans to a panel of venture capitalists as conference-goers look on. The venture capitalists will select one exceptional e-enabled business to receive a scholarship of HP hardware, software and consulting worth $200,000. Cate Cavanagh, former principal and current board member of Panasonic Internet Incubator, will assist in the facilitation of this event.

Concurrent Sessions
9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Business Incubation Best Practices

Learn how top-performing programs have utilized best practices. The speaker will draw from a newly published NBIA report based on a study conducted for Maryland's incubators. Gain the tips, tools and techniques for client screening, board selection and management and developing business assistance programs.

Chuck Wolfe, Principal, Claggett Wolfe Associates, Auburn, CA

Meeting the Test, Building the Best

Industry experts from this NBIA Award-winning incubator achieve top results with client companies by using a rigorous, step-by-step process of regular assessments, consulting and training programs. Paul Terry, a 1995 Inc. magazine Supporter of Entrepreneurship award winner, and incubator manager Angela Cain explain how they successfully move entrepreneurs through the incubation process.

Angela Cain, Incubator Manager, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, San Francisco, CA
Paul Terry, Business Consultant, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, San Francisco, CA

Quantum Profitable Growth: Breaking the Million-Dollar Barrier

This PricewaterhouseCoopers expert on organizational effectiveness and revenue generation has helped a wide range of companies increase their quality revenues. Get ready for some innovative thinking — you'll develop the hard-core business acumen necessary to help clients break through that magical $1 M barrier on the way to truly profitable revenue growth.

George Bailey, Chief Innovation Zealot and Partner, Management Consulting Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers, San Francisco, CA

Strategies for Achieving Financial Self-Sustainability: Part One

NBIA can't say it enough: Financial self-sustainability goes a long way toward incubation success. This double session will give you plenty of ideas for securing predictable, reliable sources of financing.

Through first-hand insights, two business incubation experts will demonstrate the importance of self-sustainability. Learn the many ways incubators can be self-sustaining and determine the model best suited to your own program and community. (Part Two is at 11:15 a.m.)

Jim Greenwood, President, Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc., Sanibel, FL
Thomas S. Lyons, Associate Professor, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

Commercializing Technology: Turning Cool Ideas into Hot Profits

Federal labs spend billions of dollars on R&D, but only one of 11 new product ideas successfully makes it to market. Incubator managers representing several NASA-sponsored business incubators will describe effective methods for helping companies successfully evaluate, access and commercialize federal laboratory technology.

Joseph King, Technology Director, Enterprise Development, Inc., Lewis Incubator for Technology, Strongsville, OH
Martin Kaszubowski, Director, Hampton Roads Technology Incubator, Hampton, VA
Richard Funk, Associate Director, NASA Commercialization Center, Pomona, CA

The Whys and Hows of Equity Sharing

In this low-unemployment economy where employers struggle to find talent, equity sharing has given some companies a competitive edge when it comes to recruiting, retaining and motivating employees. Learn various methods of sharing ownership with employees and the pros and cons of equity sharing.

Martin Staubus, Foundation for Enterprise Development, La Jolla, CA

Rapid Response Entrepreneur Training

Looking to provide quick, hands-on learning for those who lack business literacy? North Carolina's Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning (REAL) program offers an eight-module "short course" that teaches entrepreneurial skills in incubators, community colleges and high schools. Find out how to make similar training work in your community.

Dean Kanipe, Executive Director, McDowell Small Business & Industry Development Center, Marion, NC

10:45 a.m. - 11:15 p.m.

Break

Concurrent Sessions
11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Innovation in Corporate Incubation Models

Learn about the latest trends in corporate incubation from industry leaders. The panel includes representatives from Panasonic Internet Incubator's model, which offers start-ups access to global markets and seed funding, and representatives from Reuters, whose international strategy of internal incubation operates in New York, Hong Kong and London.

Jim Robbins, Executive Director, Panasonic Internet Incubator, Cupertino, CA
Carol Lauffer, Managing Director, Panasonic Internet Incubator, Cupertino, CA
Andy Hatcher, Vice President for New Ventures, Reuters, New York, NY

Leading Public Organizations with Vision, Value and Strategy

Drawing on concepts from Ohio University's Executive Leadership Institute, this session will help the managers of public and nonprofit entities create highly effective organizations. Learn to develop the political and operational capacities necessary to create valuable agencies.

Mark Weinberg, Director, Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs, Ohio University, Athens, OH
Hugh Sherman, Associate Director, Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs, Ohio University, Athens, OH

NBIA can't say it enough: Financial self-sustainability is essential for incubation success. This double session will give you plenty of ideas for securing predictable, reliable sources of financing.

A panel of incubator executives representing technology, mixed-use and rural programs will describe their different but effective approaches to self-sustainability. A question-and-answer session afterward will allow participants to dig deeper.

Judy Sander, Manager, Northwestern Ontario Technology Centre, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Lorne Ross, Manager, St. Albert Business Development Centre, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
Edward Hobbs, General Manager, Toronto Business Development Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Joe Rahn, Executive Director, Hastings Industrial Incubator, Hastings, MI
Keith Williams, President & CEO, bCatalyst, Louisville, KY
Jim Hughes, President, JIm Hughes Advisory Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

International Panel - Competitiveness and Partnering through Global Technology Incubator Growth

The explosive growth of technology incubators worldwide is leading to new ways for both incubators and emerging companies to partner across many borders for greater business opportunities. Experiences in Europe, Asia Pacific, and South America will suggest new opportunities for North American incubators and their client businesses.

Heinz Fiedler, President, SPICE - Science Park and Innovation Center Expert Group, Berlin, Germany
Leonardo Pineda, consultant to the Incubadora de Empresas de BTA, Medellin, Columbia
H. Purushotham, Head, Technology Transfer Division, International Advanced Research Centre, Hyderabad, India
Other speakers to be announced

World Cup and World Class Business Incubation

Japan and Korea will cohost the World Cup Soccer matches in 2002. This year, they cohost a session on growing business incubators in Asia. Representatives from JANBO and KOBIA would like to invite Asian and other interested attendees to present their business incubation programs.

Shuji Kato, Secretary General, Japanese Association of New Business Incubation Organizations (JANBO), Tokyo, Japan
Kenzo Fujisue, Associate Professor, Department of Systems Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Kap Seung Yang, Advisor, Korean Business Incubator Association, Kwangju, Korea
Ichiro Sakata, Director, Regional Economy and Industry Research Team, Regional Economy and Industry Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan

Equity Investment Funds for Distressed Areas

It's tough to raise equity investments for firms in distressed communities. This speaker has been there, done that, though, successfully raising millions of dollars for local businesses and creating thousands of jobs in a rural region. These strategies could just as easily be applied in urban communities.

Nick Smith, Chairman and CEO, Northeast Ventures Corp., Duluth, MN, and Chairman, Community Development Venture Capital Alliance

12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Luncheon Keynote Address
Catherine Muther

Incubators as a Strategy for Change

A former senior marketing officer at San Jose-based Cisco Systems, Cate Muther is an expert on financing and growing technology businesses. She'll tell how incubators can be employed to bring about new models for social change, break down barriers and effect public (and private) good. The Three Guineas Fund, a public grant-making and operating foundation she founded, and one of its investees, The Women's Technology Cluster of San Francisco, will be discussed in this presentation sponsored by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Muther will also describe lessons learned from her involvement in the newly-organizing Foundation Incubator, which will incubate philanthropies, and the Young Women's Technology Cluster, an incubation program for youth entrepreneurs.

Muther has been widely recognized for leadership in new economy philanthropy. She was an invited speaker at the first White House Conference on Philanthropy in 1999, has recieved many awards and has been covered by top national media such as Fast Company, Fortune Small Business, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Upside, Wired, Red Herring, and U.S. News & World Report.

Concurrent Sessions
2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Networking Incubators and Science Parks: Networking for Maximum Results

Business incubator and science park managers can build professional networks that will benefit their programs and their clients. You will learn the practical consequences, business opportunities, and other benefits that derive from successful networking between business incubators and science parks both locally and globally.

Luis Sanz, Director General, International Association of Science Parks, Campanillas, Spain
Norman di Montigny, Director General, Quebec Biotechnology Innovation Centre, Laval, Quebec, Canada

Triage: Customizing Commercialization Strategies

A commercialization strategy that fits one firm is not necessarily ideal for another — even for firms with similar focuses. Using case histories, this session looks at what makes a company a viable venture and how the incubator manager can help develop the best strategy to fit each company's needs.

Terry Collison, Principal, Blue Rock Capital, Wilmington, DE
Larry Braitman, Cofounder, Signia Ventures, San Mateo, CA
Chris Varley, Vice President, New Market Development, AT&T Labs, Florham Park, NJ

The Challenges of Inner-City Incubation

Incubation programs hold great economic development potential for urban communities but face unique challenges. Join in on a discussion of key issues related to urban incubation including race vs. place, incubating microenterprises vs. scalable firms, identifying funding resources, incubators as part of a larger strategy and more.

Matt Bergheiser, Vice President, The Enterprise Center, Philadelphia, PA
Nhadine Leung, Program Manager of Operations and Affordable Housing Division, Seedco, New York City, NY

Rural Incubators: What Makes for Success or Failure?

In sparsely populated towns and counties, scarce resources and the lack of a critical mass of entrepreneurial companies can be huge obstacles to business incubation. The authors of a comprehensive study of rural incubators point out what makes these programs succeed or fail.

Dinah Adkins, President & CEO, National Business Incubation Association, Athens, OH
Hugh Sherman, Director of Entrepreneurial Programs, Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs, Ohio University, Athens, OH

Attracting Tenants: Keeping the Pipe Full

How do you find the balance between good business opportunities, management and entrepreneurial spirit in the tenants you want to attract? Discuss who's in, who's out, and why.

Henry Artis, Business Services Manager, Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, Spokane, WA
Quincy Ellis, Executive Director, Small Business Incubator Facility, Early, TX

I did NOT do that. And I resent you saying so. (Or, How to Reduce Your Own Defensiveness in Conflict)

Conflict is inevitable in the start-up environment. Unfortunately, responding defensively is a self-defeating behavior that reduces your effectiveness and breeds defensiveness in others — probably not the result you want. In this interactive session, you'll learn how to identify your own defensive behaviors and turn that knowledge into better conflict resolution strategies.

James Tamm, Administrative Law Judge, State of California, Foster City, CA

Maryland Initiative to Support State Incubators

Maryland officials and incubator managers collaborated to initiate a statewide program for incubator support that includes funding, awards programs, public relations, development of a state incubator network and more. Speakers will share lessons learned and the pitfalls they've encountered since the program began.

Ann Lansinger, Executive Director, Emerging Technology Center, Baltimore, MD
Paul Levin, Director, University of Maryland Baltimore County Technology Center, Baltimore, MD
Chris Marschner, Director, Technical Innovation Center, Hagerstown, MD
Jim Sanders, Director, Business Incubation Programs, Maryland Technology Development Corp., Baltimore, MD

4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Walking Tour of San Jose Incubation Programs

Stash your course materials and put on your walking shoes - it's time to hit the streets of San Jose for an afternoon and evening of incubation and innovation.

Just around the corner from The Fairmont Hotel are four white-hot incubation programs: Software Business Cluster, San Jose Arts Incubator, the International Business Incubator and the Environmental Business Cluster. These incubators are throwing open their doors so conference attendees can get a close-up look at incubation, Silicon Valley-style. Enjoy the tree-lined avenues of San Jose as you make your way between the two locations.

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Taste of California Reception at The Tech Museum of Innovation

After the tour, take a break then stroll over to The Tech Museum of Innovation for the Taste of California reception. Sample some of the Silicon Valley's finest regional cuisine and chat with colleagues while discovering your inner innovator using the Tech Museum's interactive exhibits. Design a roller coaster, challenge colleagues to a bobsled race, build a microchip or, using a 3-D laser scanner, find out what your head would look like with a wood or brick finish.