Wednesday,
May 21Atlanta Kickoff Breakfast
7:30 – 8:30 a.m., Grand Ballroom
See Highlights & Activities for details.
Keynote Address
8 – 8:45 a.m., Grand Ballroom
See Highlights & Activities for
details.
Concurrent Sessions
9 – 10:15 a.m.
Multiple Roles of the Incubator Manager
Do you often feel overwhelmed by multiple tasks that all seem important?
Learn how to prioritize tasks and responsibilities while keeping
your board, clients and stakeholders happy.
General 
Lisa Ison, President, The New Century Venture Center, Roanoke, VA
Michael Carter, Executive Director, Richlands Business Incubator,
Richlands, VA
Moderator: Don Betts, Associate Manager, Advanced Technology Development
Center Entrepreneur Network, Douglas, GA
Moderator: Jasper Welch, Director, San Juan College, Enterprise Center,
Farmington, NM
Innovative Partnerships for Technology Incubation
Two Virginia technology incubators achieve their missions by tapping
community resources. Partnering with local universities as well as
entrepreneur support and technology commercialization programs helps
everyone succeed. Gain ideas to enhance your incubator’s efforts
and your community’s economic health.
Special Focus/Technology 
David Lohr, Executive Director, Virginia Biosciences Development Center,
Richmond, VA
Marty Kaszubowski, Director, Hampton Roads Technology Incubator, Norfolk,
VA
Moderator: Lisa Smith, Senior Executive, ANGLE Technology LLC, Vienna,
VA
New Markets Tax Credits
The New Markets Tax Credit program, authorized for $15 billion over
seven years, can help fund economic development in distressed rural
and urban areas. Learn how the program works and how establishing
a Community Development Entity (CDE) can help you access this and
other
sources of funding for entrepreneurs.
Rural/Revitalization 
James Carras, Principal, Carras Community Investment, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale,
FL
Moderator: Ed Harrell, Executive Director, Murata Business Center,
Carlisle, PA
Getting Credit Where Credit Is Due
Entrepreneurs need to establish and monitor personal and commercial
credit. Do you check a prospective client’s credit report? You
should – and clients seeking business loans can be sure the creditors
will. Learn how to help clients grow their companies to the next level
by ensuring their credit readiness.
General
Joyce Walden, President, Integrity Financial Solutions, Inc., Atlanta,
GA
Moderator: Giles McDaniel, Executive Director, Northeast Alabama Entrepreneurial
System, Anniston, AL
Worldwide Models for Food Business Incubation
Food business venture centers and kitchen incubators worldwide have
contributed to their regions’ economic health. However, there
are varying organizational structures and different needs for funding,
facilities, services and fees, depending on regional resources. Use
these models and lessons learned to assemble a successful program for
your rural or urban community.
International/Rural/Special
Focus 
Lou Cooperhouse, Director, Rutgers University Food Innovation Research & Extension
Center, Bridgeton, NJ
John Borchert, Chairman of the Board, Hudson Valley FOODWORKS, Poughkeepsie,
NY
Jim Smith, Director, Strategic Research & Technical Services, Prince
Edward Island Food Technology Centre, Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Island, Canada
Margaret Brennan, Associate Director, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment
Station, New Brunswick, NJ
Go Ahead … Ask!
Pick the brains of a venture capital investor, a corporate technology
investor and a successful company founder-turned-private investor.
This panel has decades of experience guiding entrepreneurs and young
venture-backed company management teams. Ask the company-building
questions keeping you up at night.
General
Peter Bianco, Senior Partner, Milestone Equity Partners Northern
Virginia LLC, Falls Church, VA
Nelson Cooney, Managing Partner, Milestone Equity Partners LLC, Montgomery
Village, MD
Ned Lilly, President and CEO, Open MFG LLC, Norfolk, VA
Facilitator: Mark Fedeli, Director of Communication, Milestone Equity
Partners Northern Virginia LLC, Falls Church, VA
Break
10:15 – 10:45 a.m., Grand Ballroom
Concurrent Sessions
10:45 a.m. – noon
Competition’s Winning Ways
Are you looking for ways to encourage clients to focus on the elements
necessary for early-stage funding and rapid market penetration? Are
you seeking clients with solid growth potential? Come learn how these
managers use competitions to encourage entrepreneurial success and
simultaneously enhance awareness of their incubation programs.
General
Kay Wade, Director, Meridian Technology Center for Business Development,
Stillwater, OK
Joel Wiggins, Director, Austin Technology Incubator, Austin, TX
Joel Stevenson, Director, University of South Carolina Columbia Technology
Incubator, Columbia, SC
Moderator: Fred Andrews, CEO, Fred Andrews Consulting Services, Springfield,
MA
Forums Redux
Conference sessions have offered a wealth of ideas and successful
programs to emulate. Come meet with colleagues to compare notes, exchange
business
cards and bounce off new ideas. The networks you create through forums
will continue conference conversations and other information exchanges
throughout the year.
General
Tuesday’s Forum’s Luncheon inaugurated discussions on creating
new topics for NBIA’s Forums Program. This session permits an
opportunity to further those developments.
Incubators With Community Development Goals: Building Resources and Partnerships
Community buy-in is essential to the successful launch of incubator
initiatives. Panelists will discuss creative and proven methods for
establishing and leveraging partnerships with local government, the
media and the local business community. Participants also will receive
tools to develop individual partnership-building plans.
Revitalization
Steve Cohen, Senior Program Associate, Seedco, New York, NY
Lee Huang, Director, YES Program, The Enterprise Center, Philadelphia,
PA
Thalia Mendez, Director, Business Incubation and Education Initiatives,
Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation
Roundtable: Innovative Approaches to Public Funding
Most incubators receive public funding, and governments worldwide
are increasingly focused on the returns on their investments. Explore
innovative
ways to compensate incubators for the social services they provide.
Think out of the box as the presenters spark ideas on best practices
for incubator funding in light of the public goods they provide.
International
Dinyar Lalkaka, Partner, Business & Technology Development
Strategies LLC, New York, NY
Barbara Harley, Executive Director, International Business Incubator,
San Jose, CA
Julian Webb, Chief Executive, CREEDA Business Centers, Canberra, Australia
Fengling Ma, Director, Tianjin Business Incubation Center, Tianjin,
People’s Republic of China
Technology Incubation, Economic Development Research Updates
Office of Technology Policy funding has supported three new studies
highlighting incubators among other tech development strategies. This
session’s speakers will report on exemplary federal-laboratory
based economic development practices; a technology incubator benchmarking
project; and emerging U.S. business development trends in 22 nations
in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa.
Technology
Dinah Adkins, President & CEO, National
Business Incubation Association, Athens, OH
Chris Israel, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology
Policy, Office of Technology Policy, U.S. Department of Commerce,
Washington, D.C.
Cris Johnsrud, President, Pathfinder Research, High
Springs, FL
Diane L. Palmintera, President, Innovation Associates,
Inc., Reston, VA
Venture Capital Forum
12:15 – 1:45 p.m., Grand Ballroom
See Highlights & Activities for
details.
Berkeley Plantation and Coach House Dinner Tour
3:30 – 8:30 p.m.
See Highlights & Activities for
details.