Maryland Community Newspapers Online
An inaugural partnership event in suburban Maryland for an entrepreneurial program linked to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology attracted wide interest and good reviews from local business executives and officials.
Rockville Economic Development Inc. partnered with the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore, a nonprofit that has supported high-tech entrepreneurship in the region since 1981, to organize the gathering Nov. 12 at UMBI's Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in Rockville.
Executives from Columbia business-to-business software communications company Unyos LLC were coached for several weeks before making a presentation before a panel of experts from the management, marketing, scientific and investment fields. Technology companies with gross revenue of $500,000 to $2.5 million were encouraged to apply to present at the Startup Lab.
The experience was very helpful, said Larry Jones, vice president of business development of Unyos. The business formed about a year ago and combines telecommunications, Web communications, instant messaging and other tools to allow companies to communicate more efficiently.
"It's always good to get opinions from people who have different viewpoints," Jones said. "Many people stayed afterwards to speak with us and exchange business cards. That doesn't always happen after you give a presentation."
Between 80 and 85 people attended the lab, which pleased organizers. Adding the MIT Enterprise Forum to REDI's portfolio of programs, which includes the StartRight Women's Business Plan Competition, the PostDoc Conference and Career Fair, ACTiVATE at NIH and the Citi Foundation-funded business start-up seminar series, makes sense, said Sally Sternbach, executive director of REDI.
"We plan to continue with the partnership. It's clear there is an audience," she said. "We're doing everything we can to create a rich environment for entrepreneurs."
The next event will likely be in February, Sternbach said.
The MIT Enterprise Forum, based in Cambridge, Mass., formed in 1978. The Washington-Baltimore chapter was one of the first established. There are now 25 chapters across the United States and other countries, according to its Web site.