UND Center for Innovation 30th Brochure

1984 - 2014

Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.

– Harvey Mackay

30 Years of Innovation Entrep Thirty years ago the UND Center for Innovation was launched with a focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and investment. Three decades later that focus is still the Center’s core mission while adding entrepreneur infrastructure and ecosystem to this vital mix. Our legacy as well as our future is that thousands of students, innovators and entrepreneurs have been inspired by the Center.

Our founder with the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center

They copied and copied but they could not copy my mind, so I left them sweating and stealing a year and a half behind.”

—Rudyard Kipling

preneurship and Investment Key elements of our success include: Innovation offers solutions to problems, meets critical needs, and offers opportunities to advance society, our economy, and make life better for many people. Innovation means change, even when there is strong resistance, but a better future depends on change and innovation. The Center practices what it preaches and is still innovating too, as we have reinvented ourselves several times in 30 years.

Entrepreneurship is venture development led by clever pioneers. Entrepreneurship has the ability to transform lives, young and old. It is challenging to be an entrepreneur, and rewarding as many people have found their calling and their passion through this new path. The Center is dedicated to unleashing and supporting entrepreneur talent - as all great ventures are built on talent.

Access to entrepreneur capital is needed for entrepreneur growth. The Center has worked on many initiatives to improve entrepreneur investment opportunities, debt and equity, public and private. Engaging over 160 angel investors to form angel funds was a sea of change in the state, as was launching the Dakota Venture Group, the nation’s first fully student run venture fund, and an EB-5 regional center for direct foreign investment. There is still much work to do.

Entrepreneur infrastructure includes the UND Center for Innovation Foundation, our tech incubators, entrepreneur programs and outreach and more. Entrepreneurs come in many ages and stages of development, and a robust infrastructure is required to launch companies, accelerate growth and increase the opportunity for success. This has been accomplished through successful entrepreneurs caring about the next generation of entrepreneurs. We are so appreciative of our benefactors and supporters.

Entrepreneur Ecosystem is the people, stakeholders and entities that care about supporting and encouraging innovators and entrepreneurs. The ecosystem is needed to have a sustainable entrepreneur environment over the long haul. Constantly expanding the entrepreneur ecosystem is required to enhance the success of entrepreneur ventures, which begets more success.

The new UND School of Entrepreneurship has the potential to change entrepreneur education nationwide. The goal is to bring innovation and entrepreneurship across the entire campus, connect students with entrepreneurs at all stages (win-win), and embed learning in the professional practice of entrepreneurship. This is a radical change worth doing, utilizing the medical school approach to professional practice.

Staying internationally competitive for decades is hard work as the rest of the world does not slow down to let you keep your lead. The Center and the Foundation were fortunate to receive 15 national and international awards for excellence in entrepreneurship and innovation. The Center is one of just six venture development organizations nationwide selected to exemplify best practices and success. Most others had more financial resources than we did, but we had talent. Specifically we hired student talent for Center staff and interns. Many said we could not compete internationally with student talent.

Benefactors, mentors, advocates and supporters are key to our success. The Center exists because successful entrepreneurs invested in the next generation of entrepreneurs through our Foundation.

Over $32 million has been raised so far in our endowments, tech incubators, program infrastructure and entrepreneur outreach. Without these benefactors we would still be in the storage closet in Harrington Hall where we started, hoping for crumbs. We are so appreciative of so many for so much.

As the Norwegians say, mange tusen takk (many thousand thanks) for the first 30 years.

Bruce Gjovig CEO & Entrepreneur Coach

30 Years of Natio The Center for Innovation’s accomplishments have been possible with the support of successful entrepreneurs who have generously invested in the next generation of entrepreneurs. They have been advocates for the Center, mentors to emerging entrepreneurs and investors in North Dakota ventures and the Center for Innovation’s programs.

The Dahl and Melroe families: Howard and Brian Dahl of Amity Technology Fargo and Dorothy Melroe donated $300,000 in 2004 to establish the Eugene Dahl and Roger Melroe Faculty Entrepreneur Endowments within the UND Foundation to encourage faculty and students to work with entrepreneurs to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Gene Dahl was the first chairman of the Center for Innovation Advisory Board (1984-89) and a friend of many emerging entrepreneurs. Gene was instrumental in bringing two North Dakota ventures to Fortune 500 status: Melroe Bobcat and Steiger Tractor. Roger Melroe was his brother-in-law and vice president of marketing for Melroe Bobcat. This funding supports faculty and students to work directly with one or more emerging entrepreneurs on the issues of innovation (product, technology, services, etc.), venture development, venture growth, or financing. The Boardroom in the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center is named for Gene Dahl and Roger Melroe to honor their entrepreneurial accomplishments.

Any time is a good time to start a company.”

—Ron Conway, Angel Investor

Rodney P. Burwell: A ’61 graduate from UND with degrees in Industrial Engineering and Business Administration, Burwell went on to receive UND’s prestigious Sioux Award for outstanding career achievement and distinguished public service in 1983.

He launched Proform, Inc., a manufacturing company that created revolutionary barge covers for Cargill Corp. Over 5,000 cover systems were made by Proform, Inc., during the company’s 16-year history.

Burwell went on to form Xerxes Corporation in 1979, which acquired the assets of the fiberglass equipment division of Dart Environmental and Services Company. Other entrepreneurial endeavors throughout Burwell’s career include: the Silvertree Hotel in Snowmass Village, Colorado; the Madison Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin; C & B Investments, which operates a group of John Deere agricultural dealerships; and Pace Analytical, an analytical testing company. With a commitment of $2 million in 2008, he and his wife Barbara established the Rodney Burwell Chair of Entrepreneurship to enhance the entrepreneur program.

Alerus Financial: A gift of $50,000 from Alerus Financial has established the UND Entrepreneur Professional Practice Program. Students and entrepreneurs will directly benefit from this experiential learning environment, where students will complete meaningful projects for the businesses while the businesses receive guidance from the UND School of Entrepreneurship. The initiative will groom future talent while providing entrepreneurs with resources to grow their ventures. Randy Newman, vice chair of the UND Center for Innovation Foundation Board of Trustees, is CEO and President of Alerus Financial. Newman also served as chairman of the Alerus Center Commission in Grand Forks, and he is the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) in Des Moines and represents the Des Moines FHLB on the Council of FHLBs in Washington, DC.

onal Recognition Norm Skalicky: A 1955 UND alumnus and banking entrepreneur from St. Cloud, Minnesota, Norm Skalicky contributed $1 Million, in the early years to help advance entrepreneurial endeavors at UND and throughout the state of North Dakota.

The Skalicky Entrepreneur Endowment is intended to encourage and stimulate economic growth through entrepreneurship and private investment. In October of 2004, the Rural Technology Center was renamed the Skalicky Tech Incubator, for his generosity.

Thomas J. Clifford and Gayle A. Clifford: The Clifford Entrepreneur Fellowship Endowment with the Center for Innovation Foundation continues Tom and Gayle’s legacy of providing opportunities for individuals with uncommon promise. The Clifford Fellowships are available for a wide range of emerging entrepreneurial leaders enrolled at or affiliated with the University of North Dakota. The fund was established by Tom and Gayle Clifford and continues to grow with memorial gifts honoring Tom.

James C. Ray: Aerospace entrepreneur James Ray is the second largest private donor to the University of North Dakota. He has been a long-time friend and supporter of the Center for Innovation Foundation. His generosity was instrumental in establishing the School of Entrepreneurship at UND. Through a $3 million endowment, Ray has provided ongoing support for entrepreneurship and his gift of $500,000 created the state-of-the-art conference facility in the new Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center. The conference facility is named the James C. Ray Idea Lab.

Ray Rude: An entrepreneur from Stanley, ND, Ray Rude created and patented the Duraflex aluminum diving board, provided $1.75 million toward the construction of the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center. The Center is named for Rude’s wife, Ina Mae, who was his greatest supporter in his entrepreneurial ventures.

The Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center was the first North Dakota Center of Excellence; the $4.2 million facility was funded through private and public partnerships to provide offices for startups, wet lab space for scientists and engineers and community space for entrepreneurs.

Kurt Mueller: A 1960 UND alumnus, Kurt Mueller has provided annual gifts totaling more than $230,000 to date to fund the Mueller Entrepreneur Intern Program. The program pays up to $1,500 per semester for a student to develop an entrepreneur venture located in the tech incubator. Since 1997, more than 140 UND students have participated in these entrepreneur internships to launch student startups.

Bart and Lynn Holaday: Bart is a retired venture capitalist from Brinson Partners and Adam Street of Chicago who founded and now operates the Dakota Foundation in Colorado Springs, CO. He is past chair and trustee for the Center for Innovation Foundation. In 2006, Bart and Lynn provided a gift of $300,000 to establish the nation’s first student-run venture fund, the Dakota Venture Group.

The Holadays wanted to support student entrepreneurs by providing hands-on learning experiences with start-ups and managing venture capital. Bart set up the Lynn Holaday Entrepreneur in Residence to honor his deceased wife, which allows for a successful entrepreneur to engage students and emerging entrepreneurs at the Center and in the classroom.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

— Peter Drucker

The Next 30 Years

UND School of Entrepreneurship On May 29th, the UND School of Entrepreneurship was established by a unanimous vote of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education (SBHE), elevating the successful entrepreneur program from department status as of the fall of 2014.

The new School of Entrepreneurship is among the first in the nation, joining one other public university (Oklahoma State) and three private universities (Bradley, Drexel and St. Thomas). This is an opportunity to revolutionize entrepreneur education, bringing it to the professional level steeped in innovation, professional practice, and experiential learning.

The School will bring innovation and entrepreneurship across the entire campus, then connect students with successful entrepreneurs and startups statewide and utilize successful entrepreneurs in the classroom. The School will become the “entrepreneurial hub” of campus while working with the entrepreneur community statewide - helping students develop professional skills that will contribute to North Dakota’s entrepreneurial spirit and thriving economy.

The Center for Innovation Foundation and the Center for Innovation will be the School’s outreach and practitioner arm, providing experiential learning elements. There is a wonderful opportunity to pioneer the next level of entrepreneur education, deeply focused on the professional practice of entrepreneurship.

Engaging Successful Entreprenurs The participation of startups as well as seasoned entrepreneurs is needed to provide experiential learning and professional practice opportunities for the next generation of entrepreneur students. Please join us in transforming students’ lives while fostering innovating and growing ventures, a bottom line idea that has impact.

I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.

— Estee Lauder, entrepreneur

Invest in the Next 30 Years The UND Center for Innovation Foundation has committed itself to raising millions of dollars to support the UND School of Entrepreneurship and the Center for Innovation with endowments, outreach programs, and innovative ways to build the best entrepreneur program in the nation. Our success over the last 30 years is due in large part to key investments by successful entrepreneurs wishing to build world class Center to impact and transform students’ and entrepreneurs’ lives. To continue to build a world-class entrepreneur program, much additional investment will be required. Areas of need include:

UND Center for Innovation Foundation Priority Needs Entrepreneur Coaching for Startups EB-5 Program Foreign Direct Investment Angel Investor Education and Networks International Entrepreneurship

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.

— Mark Twain

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Dakota Venture Group (Student Venture Fund) Student Startups

Everything started as nothing.

—Ben Weissenstein, Grand Slam Garage Sales

School of Entrepreneurship Priority Needs Professors of Entrepreneur Practice Professional Practice of Entrepreneurship Student Entrepreneur Internships

“Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

— Albert Schweitzer

Sponsorship of Entrepreneur Speakers and Forums Experiential Learning Opportunities “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit.”

— Ronald Reagan

UND Center for Innovation Foundation Board of Trustees Chair

Dale Morrison

Tri Pointe Capital Partners Naples, FL

Vice Chair

Randy Newman

Alerus Financial Grand Forks, ND

Treasurer

Charles J. Ahearn

Trustees:

Ray Foundation Naples, FL

Bart Holaday Howard Dahl Gerald Van Eeckhout Dick McConn James C. Ray, Emeritus William Ness, Emeritus Russ Brown, Emeritus Fran Jabara, Emeritus

The Dakota Foundation, Colorado Springs, CO Amity Technology, Fargo, ND Evergreen Enterprises, Evergreen, CO M International, McLean, VA Ray Foundation, Naples, FL Arctic Enterprises, Hudson, WI AGSCO, Sun City, AZ Jabara Venture Group, Wichita, KS

Ex-Officio Non-Voting Members: Bruce Gjovig Margaret Williams Robert Kelley Alice Brekke Thomas DiLorenzo

Entrepreneur Coach and Director, Center for Innovation Dean, College of Business and Public Administration President, University of North Dakota VP for Finance and Operations, University of North Dakota Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, University of North Dakota

UND Center for Innovation Foundation Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center 4200 James Ray Drive, Stop 8372 Grand Forks, ND 58203 USA Phone: 701.777.3132 info@innovators.net The UND Center for Innovation, a division of the UND College of Business and Public Administration, helps entrepreneurs, students and researchers launch new technologies, products and ventures, develop business and marketing plans, access talent of universities and secure venture financing.