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By Karla Pomeroy
Boomerang Staff Writer
The Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC) will be back to full capacity soon with a tenth client just accepted, CEO Jon Benson said.
Benson said the WTBC Board still must vote on the client at Thursday's meeting, but he does not see any problems. He does not have a timeline on when the newest company would be moving into the WTBC. Benson said that until the board officially approves the tenth client, he cannot release the name or information about the company. He said he is also working with six companies that are currently in the business planning stages. "I think there are some really interesting companies coming along. I've been really pleased with how everything has gone so far," Benson said.
Benson spoke briefly about the center to the Laramie City Council during a work session Tuesday night. He said the center, since its opening in the fall of 2006, has had one company graduate, WindRider Technology, which is now located on Third Street. There are three companies in the business incubator that are growing and getting close to graduating: Happy Jack Software LLC, Firehole Technologies Inc. and Firewise Forest Management.
One of the businesses in the center, ADA Technologies Inc. Wyoming, started in the old Bureau of Mines bulding before the center opened in 2006. Dr. Kent Henry, senior research scientist and oxidant sensing business unit manager for the company, said the business was one of the first local, small businesses to be in the incubator. Henry said he is using the technologies developed at the ADA Technologies headquarters in Littleton, Colo.
According to the ADA Web site, www.adatech.com, ADA specializes in the successful creation and conversion of innovative technologies to commercial successes. The goal for ADA Wyoming, Henry said, "is to utilize the processes that ADA developed, take the technologies we are developing and the ones I am working on, and incubate them and make them into businesses that stay in Wyoming." The two program areas that ADA Wyoming is working on are trace explosives detection and a residual oxidant sensor.
"I've been in Wyoming 10 years. ... working with ADA, we needed a decent facility to do our laboratory work," Henry said. The incubator provides the ideal facility to take research and new small business concepts and work within infrastructure of the business center to help the company move from technology development to commercial product.
"The incubator provides several things for us. One is a really nice, modern facility, particularly the laboratory facilities we use extensively," he said. "The business structure is there, as well as the quarterly coaching to take our technology and make it successful."
In addition to providing space for the businesses, the WTBC has access to conference rooms, business and management advice, one-on-one counseling and quarterly meetings where members of the businesses get togehter with a five-person advisory committee.
"We will do anything we can think of to help these folks grow their businesses," Benson said. The WTBC has six full-time employees, two part-time interns and some undergraduate students who assist the companies.
The other businesses in the WTBC are Analogic Engineering Inc., ChapaCode LLC, Medicine Bow Technologies, Thought Equity and Wyoming Space and Information Systems Inc.
Outreach program
This year Benson was looking for a way to have a statewide impact, since the center focuses on start-up companies in the Laramie area.
The WTBC has launched an outreach program with five clients - three Sheridan businesses, a business in Green River and one in Chugwater. He said it is too hard to work long-distance with a start-up company because things change quickly. "One of the nice things about an incubator is that you are in the same building and you see (the businesses) all the time. You are able to keep really close relationships with them," Benson said.
For the outreach program, Benson looks for businesses in the second stage of start-up, businesses that have developed a workable business model and are starting to grow. In the outreach program, the WTBC will help businesses develop an organizational structure, develop information and financial systems and focus on sales and marketing including cause and affect. He hopes that by the end of the year they will be working with 15 companies across the state.
As with the center in Laramie, Benson said the emphasis in recruiting businesses is on technology. "I always use the term 'high growth,'" Benson said. "They're all technology-related except Firewise Forest Management, which is a professional services firm," he said. "We're not going to turn our backs on someone that has high-growth potential."
He said they want people looking to build their businesses. "When I look at a client, I'd like to think they could build a $5 million company," he said. They look at companies with high profit margins (20 to 25 percent net) because it shows stability.
When a company is ready to graduate, the WTBC works with them to find the right location. He said the WTBC has people from across the state contacting the WTBC about clients relocating to their area.
Henry said he does not know when ADA Technologies Inc. Wyoming will be ready to graduate. He said it's not just about graduating, "The goal is to graduate because the business is successful," he said.
Karla Pomeroy's e-mail address is lbedit9@laramieboomerang.com
Benson said the WTBC Board still must vote on the client at Thursday's meeting, but he does not see any problems. He does not have a timeline on when the newest company would be moving into the WTBC. Benson said that until the board officially approves the tenth client, he cannot release the name or information about the company. He said he is also working with six companies that are currently in the business planning stages. "I think there are some really interesting companies coming along. I've been really pleased with how everything has gone so far," Benson said.
Benson spoke briefly about the center to the Laramie City Council during a work session Tuesday night. He said the center, since its opening in the fall of 2006, has had one company graduate, WindRider Technology, which is now located on Third Street. There are three companies in the business incubator that are growing and getting close to graduating: Happy Jack Software LLC, Firehole Technologies Inc. and Firewise Forest Management.
One of the businesses in the center, ADA Technologies Inc. Wyoming, started in the old Bureau of Mines bulding before the center opened in 2006. Dr. Kent Henry, senior research scientist and oxidant sensing business unit manager for the company, said the business was one of the first local, small businesses to be in the incubator. Henry said he is using the technologies developed at the ADA Technologies headquarters in Littleton, Colo.
According to the ADA Web site, www.adatech.com, ADA specializes in the successful creation and conversion of innovative technologies to commercial successes. The goal for ADA Wyoming, Henry said, "is to utilize the processes that ADA developed, take the technologies we are developing and the ones I am working on, and incubate them and make them into businesses that stay in Wyoming." The two program areas that ADA Wyoming is working on are trace explosives detection and a residual oxidant sensor.
"I've been in Wyoming 10 years. ... working with ADA, we needed a decent facility to do our laboratory work," Henry said. The incubator provides the ideal facility to take research and new small business concepts and work within infrastructure of the business center to help the company move from technology development to commercial product.
"The incubator provides several things for us. One is a really nice, modern facility, particularly the laboratory facilities we use extensively," he said. "The business structure is there, as well as the quarterly coaching to take our technology and make it successful."
In addition to providing space for the businesses, the WTBC has access to conference rooms, business and management advice, one-on-one counseling and quarterly meetings where members of the businesses get togehter with a five-person advisory committee.
"We will do anything we can think of to help these folks grow their businesses," Benson said. The WTBC has six full-time employees, two part-time interns and some undergraduate students who assist the companies.
The other businesses in the WTBC are Analogic Engineering Inc., ChapaCode LLC, Medicine Bow Technologies, Thought Equity and Wyoming Space and Information Systems Inc.
Outreach program
This year Benson was looking for a way to have a statewide impact, since the center focuses on start-up companies in the Laramie area.
The WTBC has launched an outreach program with five clients - three Sheridan businesses, a business in Green River and one in Chugwater. He said it is too hard to work long-distance with a start-up company because things change quickly. "One of the nice things about an incubator is that you are in the same building and you see (the businesses) all the time. You are able to keep really close relationships with them," Benson said.
For the outreach program, Benson looks for businesses in the second stage of start-up, businesses that have developed a workable business model and are starting to grow. In the outreach program, the WTBC will help businesses develop an organizational structure, develop information and financial systems and focus on sales and marketing including cause and affect. He hopes that by the end of the year they will be working with 15 companies across the state.
As with the center in Laramie, Benson said the emphasis in recruiting businesses is on technology. "I always use the term 'high growth,'" Benson said. "They're all technology-related except Firewise Forest Management, which is a professional services firm," he said. "We're not going to turn our backs on someone that has high-growth potential."
He said they want people looking to build their businesses. "When I look at a client, I'd like to think they could build a $5 million company," he said. They look at companies with high profit margins (20 to 25 percent net) because it shows stability.
When a company is ready to graduate, the WTBC works with them to find the right location. He said the WTBC has people from across the state contacting the WTBC about clients relocating to their area.
Henry said he does not know when ADA Technologies Inc. Wyoming will be ready to graduate. He said it's not just about graduating, "The goal is to graduate because the business is successful," he said.
Karla Pomeroy's e-mail address is lbedit9@laramieboomerang.com
