CFI November Newsletter

Grand Forks, North Dakota

November 2010

W ELCOME N ORTHROP G RUMMAN The region’s rapidly growing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry celebrated a milestone on May 21, 2010, with an official ribbon cutting to open the Northrop Grumman office in the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center.

The new office will support Northrop Grumman's RQ-4

Global Hawk aircraft arriving at Grand Forks Air Force Base next year.

Bruce Gjovig, director of the Center for Innovation, said the incubator is able to serve as a beachhead for Northrop Grumman as they establish operations in Grand Forks that could eventually employ more

than 100 people and attract suppliers and subcontractors as the number of Global Hawk aircraft increases.

More photos from the event can be found on the back of this month’s Incubator News. An update on other UAS industry developments at the Center for Innovation can be found on page 3.

Center for Innovation Director Bruce Gjovig, far left, watches the official opening of the Northrop Grumman office in the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center. Cutting the ribbon from left: George Guerra, Northrop Grumman vice president for Global Hawk programs; Bill Heigaard, military liaison to Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND); North Dakota Lt. Governor Jack Dalrymple; Russ Rumbaugh, representing Sen. Kent Conrad (DND); and Ryan Aasheim, representing Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND).

I NSIDE THIS ISSUE :

I NNOVATE ND 2011 K ICKOFF AND 2010 W INNERS

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U NMANNED A PPLICATIONS I NSTITUTE I NTERNATIONAL A ND UAS U PDATES

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EB-5 R EGIONAL C ENTER AND R URAL T ECHNICAL A SSISTANCE P ROGRAM

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N OVEMBER E NTREPRENEUR F ORUMS

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Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center Skalicky Tech Incubator 4200 James Ray Drive Grand Forks, ND 58203 Phone: 701-777-3132 Email: newsletter@innovators.net Web: innovators.net

Center for Innovation

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I NNOVATE ND 2011 E NROLLMENT N OW O PEN Mark your

What would you do with $15,000? Innovate ND wants to know!

calendar!

Round one:

The 5th annual Innovate ND competition is now open to entrepreneurs and innovators for enrollment. Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, ND Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle and a statewide network of partners kicked off Innovate ND 2011 during Marketplace of Ideas in Fargo in September.

An increased cash prize of $15,000 was announced.

November 12, 2010 Deadline for Idea Executive Summary Submission November 13-21, 2010 Judging November 29, 2010 Idea Executive Summary Feedback

Innovate ND is a statewide initiative designed to help entrepreneurs turn innovative concepts into viable new ND business ventures.

Since the program started in 2006, nearly 700 individuals and 350 teams have participated in the competition as well as educational component of the program. Innovate ND is organized by the ND Department of Commerce, the UND Center for Innovation and the NDSU

For a complete list of important dates for Innovate ND 2011, visit www.innovatend.com.

Research and Technology Park.

For a $250 enrollment fee, participants get access to a proven venture-building process and a chance to win one of five $15,000 cash prizes along with a package of in-kind services to help them launch and grow their business. To enroll your business idea for the Innovate ND 2011 competition, visit www.innovatend.com.

Deadline for entries:

November 12

ZoneMAP, Grand Forks Clean Republic, Grand Forks

EMC2, Grand Forks

C ONGRATULATIONS !

I NNOVATE ND 2010 W INNERS Idea Champions Unranked

Clean Republic, Erik Edison, Hou Yong and Michael Shope of Grand Forks Dogs IDS, Clint and Lori Howitz of Fargo Ridge Rite, Dean Onchuck of Mooreton Dean Floyd Toilet Boot, Ron Nissen of Minot ZoneMAP, Craig Helgason, Xiaodong Zhang, Jordan Schuetzle, and Ryan Wanzek of Grand Forks

Elevator Pitch Competition

1st Place - URL Radio, Nicole Morrison-Mathern and Stacy Sturm of Bismarck 2nd Place - SunAir Power LLC, Josh Goldade of Grand Forks 3rd Place - SignFYI, Ryan Maikowski, Shane O’Keefe, Grant Hadlich, and Kyle Foerster of Grand Forks

People’s Choice Award

EMC2, Camerin Hahn, Ashley Putnam, Scott Gavett, and Mohit Dhawan of Grand Forks In the Zone Award

Outermost Layer, Jason Overland and Sally and Eric Loeffler of Fargo Visit www.innovatend.com to learn more about these winning business ventures.

Center for Innovation

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U NMANNED A PPLICATIONS I NSTITUTE I NTERNATIONAL F ORMED TO S UPPORT UAS I NDUSTRY C LUSTER

Kenville has over 20 years of nonprofit leadership experience in aviation and entrepreneurial companies.

He chairs the Valley Angel Investment Fund and has raised millions through equity and philanthropy. Kenville has been an entrepreneur since 2000 and has vast experience in high growth international aviation-related entrepreneurial businesses.

Unmanned Applications Institute International (UAII) has been established to bridge industry partners, government agencies and educational institutions in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research and robotic technologies. The Center for Innovation in partnership with Brown Corporations helped launch UAII, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and testing organization.

As the first of its kind in North America, UAII has targeted the following goals in support of airborne, ground and water/submersible unmanned systems:  Providing world-class support to the advancement of unmanned system technology for government and civil applications.  Developing industry partnerships for accelerated support.  Focusing advanced research to achieve tomorrow’s technology.

UAII founders and directors, Michael P. Corcoran and Tom K. Kenville,

have extensive backgrounds in the UAS industry, including government, political, commercial, and financial arenas.

Corcoran was the founding director of air operations for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Center – North Dakota for the Department of Homeland Security. He is the applied technology program manager for Ulteig Engineers where he develops unmanned programs within a corporate environment to support both government and civil applications.

UAS I NDUSTRY T AKES O FF With the emergence of industry-related business ventures, educational programs and other support organizations, North Dakota is becoming a key player in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry.

The Center for Innovation and the Unmanned Applications Institute International (UAII) were exhibitors and sponsors for the 2010 UAS Action Summit co-hosted by the Red River Valley Research Corridor, U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan and University of North Dakota Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence. The summit focused on the

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UAII proving grounds are located just 15 minutes south of the University of North Dakota and UAII headquarters at the Brown Corporations Business Park (BCBP). BCBP features small, medium and large UAV housing that is heated, private and secure; air, ground and water system testing and remote sensing test range with fourseason and all-weather operations; and testing and training complex for small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS), ground and small submersible unmanned systems.

For more information on UAII and its developments in the UAS industry, visit www.uaiinternational.org.

N ORTH D AKOTA

future of UAS in the 21st century, airspace integration and building a regional UAS industry. U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton A. Schwartz was the keynote speaker.

Michael P. Corcoran, UAII co-founder and co-director, presides over the newly formed Great Plains Chapter of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Syste ms International (AUVSI). The Great Plains Chapter has been joined by more than 25 UAS industry-related companies, schools and other organizations from North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana.

AUVSI is the world's largest organization devoted exclusively to advancing unmanned systems.

“The UAS industry is taking notice of North Dakota, and the future looks good for industry-related companies and schools in our state.” Tom K. Kenville, UAII co-founder and co-director

Center for Innovation

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C ENTER FOR I NNOVATION F OUNDATION A PPLIES R EGIONAL C ENTER S TATUS The Center for Innovation Foundation recently applied to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to become an EB -5 Regional Center for all of North Dakota and 20 counties in Northwest Minnesota. The U.S. Investor Pilot Program, also known as the EB-5 Regional Center, is a job creation visa program designed to stimulate economic activity and create jobs for U.S. workers, while providing eligible foreign investors the opportunity to become permanent residents.

The purpose of establishing the Center for Innovation as an EB-5 Regional Center is to:  Attract foreign direct invest-

ment into North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota in order to generate economic development, create new jobs and increase domestic capital investment in growth ventures.  Create partnerships between American private investors and international investors in order to strengthen investment deals proposed by the EB-5 Regional Center as well as attract new investors.  Facilitate creation of direct and indirect jobs through EB-5 immigrant investment projects.

The EB-5 Regional Center application was submitted to the USCIS in April 2010 and is currently pending approval. Approval is

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anticipated within 12 months.

The Center for Innovation continues to foster national and international relationships and is communicating with other EB-5 regional centers to learn from their experiences. Dr. Yong Hou, International Entrepreneur Coach at the Center for Innovation, has identified and begun discussions with foreign investors in Shanghai, China who are interested in EB-5 immigrant investment projects. Other target countries include Brazil, India and South Korea.

For more information, contact Rodrigo Cintra at the Center for Innovation, (701) 777-3132 or rodrigo@innovators.net.

E NTREPRENEUR A SSISTANCE A VAILABLE FOR V ENTURES IN R URAL C OMMUNITIES The Cooperstown-Griggs County Economic Development Council is offering nocost or low cost assistance to rural ventures through the Rural Technical Assistance Program, a project funded through a Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The services are provided by the Center for Innovation’s staff and are available to entrepreneurs in rural communities statewide.

The program provides development assistance to ventures in need of business plans, market analysis and research, feasibility studies and other similar projects.

The program also assists entrepreneurs by preparing them to access capital and raising their level of knowledge and sophistication in working with potential investors and economic development groups.

To be eligible for the program, the enterprise or entrepreneur must meet the following criteria:

1. Located in a rural area or city up to 5,000 in population

2. Fewer than 50 employees 3. Expected annual gross revenue of less than $1 million

4. Not delinquent on any federal government debt

5. Majority ownership by U.S. citizen(s).

For more information on the Rural Technical Assistance Program, contact Becky Meidinger at the CooperstownGriggs County EDC, (701) 797-3712 or cooperedc@invisimax.com, or Eric Veidel at the Center for Innovation, (701) 777-3132 or eric@innovators.net.

To learn about RBEG and other rural development grant assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov.

Center for Innovation

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N OVEMBER E NTREPRENEUR F ORUMS B ROOKS B URGUM , UND A LUMNUS AND C O -F OUNDER F RIDAY , N OVEMBER 5 TH • 3:30 P . M . • I DEA L AB The Center for Innovation will feature UND alumnus and successful entrepreneur Brooks Burgum as part of the ongoing Entrepreneur Forum series. Brooks is a co-founder of Longwater Opportunities and Sun Plains Group LLC. Brooks jumpstarted his career at the fast paced Minneapolis Grain Exchange where he bought and sold futures in the trading pit “old school” style.

After learning the trading business, Brooks went to work in the finance depart-

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aged artists, owned a commercial digital recording studio, scored feature films, produced albums, and performed extensively.

Tim received his B.A. from Stanford University, where he studied computer acoustics and recording technology. A musician's musician, he is obsessed with helping Tim is an award-winning talented emerging artists composer, an accomplished connect with the music fans musician and a record pro- most likely to appreciate ducer with 20 years of ex- their music. perience in the music indusPandora gives people music try. He has recorded with they love anytime, anyindependent labels, man-

F OR M ORE I NFORMATION WWW . INNOVATORS . NET

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A NNOUNCEMENTS

Brooks is also a co-founder of the Sun Plains Group LLC, which focuses on engineering as well as developing and building low income homes in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Brooks co-founded a company called Longwater Opportunities in 2009 to focus on the light manufacturing space sector. Longwater Opportunities invests in solid companies with topnotch business culture and dedicated employees. The company’s goal is to streamline processes and grow an already stable business into a world class enterprise by sharing operational expertise with the motivated management

T IM W ESTERGREN , F OUNDER AND C HIEF S TRATEGY O FFICER I NTERNET R ADIO T UESDAY , N OVEMBER 9 TH • 5:00 P . M . • I DEA L AB The Center for Innovation and the Dakota Venture Group will feature successful entrepreneur Tim Westergren as part of the ongoing Entrepreneur Forum series. Tim founded Pandora internet radio in January 2000 and now serves as its chief strategy officer.

team.

ment of a company called Gemstone Development.

Brooks is a native of Arthur, North Dakota and graduated from the University of North Dakota with a B.A. in Political Science in 2006. He currently resides in Dallas, Texas, where Longwater Opportunities is located.

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where, through connected devices. Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single “seed” – a favorite artist, song or genre.

P ANDORA

listen to Pandora on their computers, phones and consumer electronic devices.

Their personalized radio stations make up more than half of all online radio listening.

The Music Genome Project®, a deeply detailed, hand-built musical taxonomy, powers Pandora's personalization – using musicological “DNA” and constant listener feedback to craft personalized stations from a growing collection of hundreds of thousands of recordings. More than 65 million people have registered to OF

F UTURE E NTREPRENEUR F ORUM E VENTS V ISIT

Center for Innovation

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K IDS R ULE IN M INI -S OCIETY S UMMER C AMPS This summer 150 young entrepreneurs, ages 8-13, and 19 classroom teachers created mini-societies across the state of North Dakota. During these hands-on, fun-focused summer camps, students and teachers created their own town, designed their own currency, opened businesses, organized a town council and elected leaders. Participants went behind the scenes at local businesses and met area business, political and cultural leaders. Kids and teachers became business owners and civic partners.

The goal of the Mini-Society Summer Camps organized by the ND Youth Entrepreneurship Education Program and sponsored by the Center for Innovation and the Dakota Foundation is to give youth and teachers the authentic experience of entrepreneurship while building a better community through individual initiative and collaborative action. Youth learn to think and act as entrepreneurs and community leaders. They apply

their academic, social and technological skills in a true-to-life environment.

Teachers learn how entrepreneurial thinking in the classroom can be an effective strategy for meeting many of their student achievement goals.

For more information on the ND Youth Entrepreneurship Education Program, contact Barry Striegel at (701) 738-4812 or b.striegel@und.edu.

Visit Ndyoung Entrepreneurs .org

C ITIZENS OF THE R OCKWOOD S OCIETY IN C AVALIER

M INI -

O PEN FOR BUSINESS IN THE R OCKWOOD M INI -S OCIETY IN C AVALIER

C REATING PRODUCTS IN THE ITOP M INI S OCIETY IN N EW T OWN

K EEPING CITIZENS OF THE ITOP M INI S OCIETY IN N EW T OWN INFORMED

L EARNING FROM SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS AT D AKOTA H ARVEST B AKERS IN G RAND F ORKS

A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR IN W ILLISTON

To learn more About the ND Youth Entrepreneurship Education Program

Center for Innovation

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C ENTER FOR I NNOVATION W ELCOMES N EW S TAFF The Center for Innovation has added two new staff since the beginning of 2010.

Eric Veidel, SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Director & Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneur Consultant, joined the center in January and specializes in engineering entrepreneurship. Eric is a graduate of the University of North Dakota, graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to the Center for Innovation, Eric held engineering positions at Bobcat Company and Nodak Electric Cooperative. As a small business owner himself, Eric has an eye for operational assembly. Recently, as an alumni and trustee of Dakota Venture Group, he took his experience and founded Student-Run Venture Funds, LLC, which helps universities

and students start private equity investment funds. Eric is also currently involved in starting a non-profit organization to facilitate amateur athletic competitions in Grand Forks. (701) 7776623, eric@innovators.net Tiffany Roberts, Administrative Secretary (a.k.a. Director of Chaos), joined the center in August. She is the friendly face and voice greeting incubator tenants and visitors at the front desk. In addition to serving as the receptionist, Tiffany schedules and coordinates meetings and events in the Board Room and Idea Lab. Tiffany holds a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences from Texas A & M University. She has worked for government, non -profit and for-profit organizations, including the Na-

tional Park Service, Denton Main Street, Humane Society, Arrow Trucking, and Tulsa Parks. With Denton Main Street, she worked with local business leaders to promote the downtown business district and historic courthouse square. During this time, she developed an excitement for entrepreneurship. Tiffany recently moved to Grand Forks from Tulsa, Oklahoma with her husband Darrin and their rabbit Smokey. Although she is a native Texan, Tiffany is no stranger to Sioux Country.

She lived on the Grand Forks Air Force Base over 20 years ago and has visited the state over the years with her husband who is a native of Cando. Tiffany is an avid crafter and outdoor enthusiast. (701) 777-3132, tiffany@innovators.net

T ENANT U PDATE : C LEAN R EPUBLIC Clean Republic, LLC, an Innovate ND 2010 Idea Champion, has shifted the sales and marketing of its Hill Topper electric bike conversion kit into high gear. Coordinating a social media and viral marketing campaign through Facebook, YouTube and the company’s website, www.CleanRepublic.com, has proven to be successful.

CEO Michael Shope reports Clean Republic has attracted more than 700 Facebook fans and over 600,000 YouTube video views.

Having completed an in-team search engine optimization (SEO) project for his company’s newly republished website, Shope anticipates a 20% increase in web traffic over the next two months at no additional marketing cost.

With the website SEO structure in place, the Clean Republic team is working on visual and feature changes to convert website viewers into customers.

Clean Republic’s combined sales and marketing effort has recently resulted in its high-

est monthly revenue of $45,000. This translates to 1,000 units in the field in 14 different countries.

In addition to growing its presence on the internet, the Clean Republic team continues to network and search for investing partners. The company has secured a development deal with the Dakota Venture Group and had great networking success at the Interbike International Bicycle Expo in Las Vegas in September.

W ELCOME !

N EW I NCUBATOR T ENANTS : L IBERA , I NC .

X IAODONG Z HANG , J ORDAN S CHUETZLE & R YAN W ANZEK ~ N ORTHROP G RUMMAN J OHN S CHULLER ~ U LTEIG M ICHAEL P. C ORCORAN ~ S TUDENT E NTREPRENEURS : B ARRY P RODUCTS P ATRICK B ARRY ~ F IELD

OF V IEW , LLC J ONATHAN A LME ~

L OGO T OURNAMENT M OLLY M AHAR ~ T RIPLE F’ S V ENTURES J ASON K ES ~

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Grand Forks, ND 58201 PERMIT NO. 10

Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center Norm Skalicky Tech Incubator 4200 James Ray Drive Grand Forks, ND 58203

Address Service Requested Phone: 701-777-3132 Fax: 701-777-2339 E-mail: newsletter@innovators.net

VISIT

US ON THE WEB: INNOVATORS.NET

THE CENTER FOR INNOVATION HELPS ENTREPRENEURS, STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS LAUNCH NEW TECHNOLOGIES, PRODUCTS AND VENTURES, DEVELOP BUSINESS AND MARKETING PLANS, ACCESS TALENT OF UNIVERSITIES AND SECURE VENTURE FINANCING. WE ARE A DIVISION OF THE UND COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.

N ORTHROP G RUMMAN R IBBON C UT TING ,

Above and Right: More than 100 business and government leaders welcome Northrop Grumman and Global Hawk to the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center.

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Above: Close-up of a 1/10th scale model of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a high altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system.