UND Brochure Flip Book

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UND Brochure, r2.qxp

10/6/08

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Recent Innovative Investors Innovative Facts & Successes N

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Nationally recognized as a Top Entrepreneurial Campus and Undergraduate Program since 2004. Currently ranked #9 out of 900 entrepreneur programs surveyed by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine as one of the Top 25 Best Undergraduate Programs in the country.

Norm Skalicky: A 1955 UND alumnus and banking entrepreneur from St. Cloud, Minnesota, his gift of $1 million helps 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 as the Norm Skalicky Tech Incubator.

The Dakota Foundation established the Valley Angel Investor Internship and the Dakota Venture Group initiatives with the Center for Innovation Foundation to provide educational opportunities for UND students interested in angel and venture capital investments.

The Dakota Venture Group is the nation’s first fully student run venture fund where students handle all aspects of the investing process, from screening deals to due diligence to actual investing, and is now managed by more than 20 students enrolled in various UND programs.

A recognized, national leader in educational programs with a focus on innovation, tech entrepreneurship, and angel investing for entrepreneurs, the Center of Innovation has received six national awards for excellence.

The $4.2 million Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center was the first North Dakota Center of Excellence, which provides increased opportunities for the state’s entrepreneurs and a living laboratory for UND’s entrepreneurship students.

James C. Ray: An 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, UND Foundation and UND Aerospace Foundation. His generosity was instrumental in establishing the Entrepreneurship Program at UND’s College of Business and Public Administration. Through a $3 million endowment, Ray has provided ongoing support for entrepreneurship and his recent 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.

UND was the first university in the Great Plains to provide a tech incubator when the $4 million Skalicky Tech Incubator was built in 1996 in UND Tech Park. UND is one of only 200 campuses nationwide with a tech incubator and one of less than 20 campuses to host two facilities to support entrepreneurs.

Ray Rude: An entrepreneur from Stanley, ND, who created and patented the Duraflex aluminum diving board, provided $1.75 million toward construction of the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center. The Center is named for Rude’s late wife, Ina Mae, who was his greatest supporter in his entrepreneur venture. 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 office space for startups, wet lab space for scientists and engineers and community space for entrepreneurs.

UND currently enrolls over 200 students in entrepreneur classes, while 50 students have declared entrepreneurship as a major. The entrepreneurship program is the fastest growing major on campus, with more than 300 freshman and sophomores declaring interest.

Entrepreneurial Impact N

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The Center for Innovation has helped launch more than 440 ventures/products, while creating more than 4,300 jobs, and fostering more than $130 million in investments. The Center has also helped 39 small tech companies receive 106 SBIR awards, totaling $22 million for technology development.

Kurt Mueller: A 1962 UND alumnus, Kurt Mueller, provides annual gifts totaling more than $100,000 (to-date) to create 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, 80 UND students have been able to participate in entrepreneur internships to launch their ventures.

Funding from UND alumnus, Kurt Mueller, created the Mueller Entrepreneur Intern Program, which has provided support for 83 student entrepreneurs. Up to 78 students have been successfully placed in Kauffman Entrepreneur Internships, a program that places students with emerging ventures.

An Innovative Future...

Secured endowments and annual funding for three faculty positions in the Department of Entrepreneurship, including an endowed chair position, an entrepreneur-in-residence, as well as support for the entrepreneurship director (practitioner role). Created a Patent & Trademark Library with a gift from 3M Corporation to help entrepreneurs determine patentability and commercialization of ideas. Formed four angel funds in ND, engaging more than 80 angels to invest in entrepreneur ventures. The funds formed an investment network for entrepreneur interns.

Photos: Above, Dr. Jeffrey Stamp, UND’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence (Photo by Chuck Kimmerle). Lower Right: Julie Varian, Student Entrepreneur (Photo by John Stennes).

Innovative Reasons... To Invest in Entrepreneurship An Innovative Vision... The Center for Innovation’s vision is to maintain national leadership in entrepreneurship outreach and education, and become the leader in tech entrepreneurship in rural America. Our goals are to: N

The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneur Program have a bright future, the future will grow and evolve to include the following: N

UND will be Best in Class and continue its national rankings in Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

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Student entrepreneurs will gain national prominence, as already indicated by the 13 student ventures utilizing the Center for Innovation’s resources.

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Be looked to as the primary resource for entrepreneurs through the availability of seed & venture funds, angel investors, and national entrepreneurs-in-residence.

For More Information... For additional information about the Center for Innovation, endowment opportunities, or entrepreneur resources, please contact: Bruce Gjovig (701) 777-3134 or bruce@innovators.net Tom Kenville (218) 779-9950 or tom@innovators.net Kim Woods (701) 777-4106 or kimw@undfoundation.org

provide world-class entrepreneur education N grow entrepreneur ventures N secure access to entrepreneur capital N foster innovation N provide superb entrepreneur infrastructure

The economic future of the Great Plains is highly dependent on innovation, entrepreneurship and fostering private investment, which is the Center’s and Entrepreneurship Program’s mission. Working together, we will be leaders in these vital fields.


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