Hartford Business Journal Special Editions

2014 | Doing Business in Connecticut 97 facturing and medical device industries here," said Steve Criss, marketing and public relations administrator at UConn's Office of Economic Development. Dr. Rainer Hebert, a UConn professor who serves as director of the center, be- lieves that the possibilities offered by addi- tive manufacturing could be huge for the state and its college graduates. e center is only a first step as UConn will be opening a 115,000-square-foot technology park in 2017 that will build on the additive manufacturing investment. "e tech park is meant as a place for indus- try to collaborate with UConn faculty," Hebert said. "e goal [of the center] is tying the univer- sity and the state's manufacturers together." Additive manufacturing, Hebert explained, is cutting edge technology. Having it on campus allows students to gain first-hand knowledge. "When our students graduate they will have been exposed to the state-of-the-art technology. Companies that are investing in this technology are very interested in having a supply of workers trained it its use," he said. Incubating future leaders UConn is not alone in playing a role in how Connecticut does business. e Dolan Business School at Fairfield University began a collabora- tion in fall of 2013 with the town of Fairfield and Kleban Properties, a local real estate developer, that led to creation of the Fairfield University Accelerator and Mentoring Enterprise (dubbed FAME). e program, which is open to students as well as the community at large, is designed to help entrepreneurs with viable business plans develop their companies. Participants in FAME receive a suite of services including shared office space, access to mentors, technology, resources, workshops and start-up funding. "We had an interest in increasing entre- preneurship," said Dolan Business School Dean Donald E. Gibson. "We created a network that can help new businesses grow." FAME currently houses three businesses and Gibson said the plan is to add more. Fairfield holds a business plan competition for students every year and while the school gave out $20,000 in awards to student teams, Gibson said there was concern that there was no place for the winners to go next. "We thought this was a way for our students to go the next step. e winners of the competi- tion have a shot at getting into the incubator," Gibson said. "We'd like the incubator to grow into a place where students can drop by and meet with entrepreneurs, meet with mentors. We're not quite there yet, but we're getting there." About 30 miles northeast of Fairfield, the business school at Quinnipiac University in Hamden is similarly having an impact on the local economy. Quinnipiac has a number of faculty members researching practical topics like how help Connecticut businesses improve their relationships with Fortune 500 companies. ere are also faculty members doing research on how Connecticut companies offering employees' incentives to lead a healthier lifestyle might lead to lower cost insurance. Quinnipiac also encourages student entre- preneurship. "We always have a couple of busi- ness launches," said Matthew L. O'Connor, dean of the Quinnipiac Business School. One such launch was led by Garvey Young, a former captain of the school's basket- ball team, who actually passed on offers to play professionally overseas in order to try his hand at business. DraSpot, a social network for elite Largest 4-Year Colleges in Connec cut (ranked by total enrollment) University of Connec cut, Storrs Yale University, New Haven Central Connec cut State University, New Britain Southern Connec cut State University, New Haven Quinnipiac University, Hamden Pratt & Whitney design engineer Louis Porretti uses an electron beam melting machine that is part of the new Pratt & Whitney additive manufacturing innovation center at the Univer- sity of connecticut. The facility is one of the most advanced additive manufacturing labs in the nation. PHOTO/UNiVersiTy OF cONNecTicUT Continued on page 102 >

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