Economic Council Offers Customized Assistance
Published Apr 16, 2007
ITN Energy Systems, one of the advanced technology enterprises in south Jefferson County, serves as a springboard for spinoff companies. These companies are making impressive advances in thin-film solar cells (above) and rechargeable batteries (inset).
New companies usually have very little in common with one another, other than being new, so a boilerplate approach to assisting them is never a good idea.
Some need help with finding office space, while others require employee training programs – or employees themselves. With so many variables, the Jefferson Economic Council has been looking at the county’s overall industry picture in order to tailor services.
“We know what we have but sometimes not the why,” says JEC Vice President Michelle Claymore. “We wanted to know why our industries, both the new and the old, are here.”
The county has a solid aerospace industry, for example, and that has led to the launch of many advanced technology enterprises. A prime example is ITN Energy Systems, which locates commercially viable research and then spins out companies.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been another springboard for new companies.
“We’ve got the advanced tech companies, the institutions and universities, and the amenities,” Claymore says. “Now we have to work on the specifics of what they need and how we can provide that.”
Another helpful agency is the Jefferson County Business Resource Center, which provides training and other services to traditional and emerging industries. Since opening in 2006, it has been identifying niche areas of business growth and teaming with the JEC and other entities to help sustain emerging companies.
“We work with [entrepreneurs] in the early stages, and once they’ve secured their financing, we help them move into the areas of manufacturing or employee expansion, whatever they need,” says Denise Stephens, director.
In Golden, the Colorado School of Mines has created an advisory board along those same lines. “We’ve seen a tremendous amount of significant technology that has been converted to patent applications in the last 20 years,” says Fred Fraikor, director of the Office of Technology Transfer. Among the companies CSM has helped are MicroPhage, which developed a hand-held tool that detects bacteria in hospitals, and Metafluidics, which specializes in biomedical diagnostics.
ADA Technologies in Littleton also commercializes technology. Chief Executive Officer Cliff Brown says, “We look at the research and see how we can create value from the technology.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Wes Aldridge
Current Weather Conditions In Golden, CO (80401)
Partly Cloudy, and 34 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
