The 2007 General Meeting was snowed out in April and rescheduled for June at the Nortech offices on Bolivar Road. Alexis Abramson "played to a packed house" leading an overview presentation on the state on technology enterprises in the Northeast Ohio area.

The three phases of technology based enterprises are Start Up, Early Stage and Expansion. The Northeast Ohio area is strong in Start Up and Expansion phase, but weak in the later stages of expansion. One of the great strengths helping the former is patent production. People with local connections and generating intellectual property give the area an opportunity if the ability to capitalize can be engendered locally as well. This area is not a major source of venture capital but it does have a few solid players. One of the big unknowns is the depth of angel financing that can be raised.

Editorial note: One of the problems in assessing angel financing is that it slips in under the radar and is often uninterested in press coverage since that compromises prospective patentable work. It's quiet money and changes hands based on individual assessments and loyalties.

There are a few major players, the strongest of which is Cleveland Clinic, followed in the next tier by Goodyear, Bridgestone, Lubrizol and Equastar. The interest of "old" companies in "new" technologies is heartening and it is hoped that others will be more energized to follow suit. There are still a lot of strong and diversified companies that just haven't quite joined in as actively as desired. Balancing this is the effectiveness in smaller enterprises, as tracked by SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) grants.

Northeast Ohio has areas of particular strength. Materials and Chemicals continue the local tradition that began with steel making and petroleum refining. Often underrated, the area has a long established Electronics industry that continues to generate new technologies. And, if the area, powered by robust health care and research facilities was not making a strong showing in bio-tech/med-tech it would be a major surprise. The university-industry connection shows some serious muscle - with University of Akron leading the way, primarily in Polymers.

Some programs are emerging to encourage strengths. The Nano-101 presentations continue to be well received and helpful in raising awareness at the small shop level. There is work being done to educate scientists on technology transfer negotiations and to try to develop a model technology transfer contract. It is expected that the area could do significantly better in drug delivery methods and devices. More needs to be done to encourage local businesses to sponsor and hire technology interns - and get more adventurous in using them.

Editorial note: Advanced technology transfer and commercialization is perfectly suited to engendering both aspects of paranoia - delusions of grandeur and persecution. Establishing a basis for reasonable expectations will bring aspirations down to earth. It will also alleviate the suspicion that the "big boys" - the ones with the money; facilities; representative and distribution networks; and lawyers- will have an unfair advantage in negotiations.

Nortech has made major efforts to popularize advanced technologies in the Northeast Ohio area. It has developed programs to network people and nurture the throughput from research lab to production. Metrics have been developed to assess strengths and weaknesses and new programs put in place to address the latter.

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