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34 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2015 By Theresa Sullivan Barger K evin Bouley has neither an engineering degree nor an MBA from UConn, but the UConn graduate has won outstand- ing alumnae awards from both the engineering and business schools. For the past 15 years, Bouley has worked with UConn professors, graduate students and Ph.D. candidates to help them launch high-tech businesses as part of his mission to create an economic engine in the state's Northeast corner. He hopes to replicate Cambridge and Silicon Valley start-up cul- ture in the Tolland-Storrs region as a way to create jobs, retain educated Nutmeggers and strengthen the Connecticut economy. Bouley is the president and CEO of Ner- ac, a global technology and intellectual prop- erty advisory research firm, which began as a spin-off from the state's flagship university. A few years aer buying a 50-percent owner- ship of the business where he'd worked since 1981 – employees own the other half of the business – the UConn finance major began working to help other start-ups by offering mentoring, angel funding and incubator space in Nerac's Tolland headquarters. A more vibrant bar scene is not going to stem the brain drain, he says. "I believe we need a strong start-up scene with highly skilled, highly marketable engineers and scientists that develop the companies that become the resurgence, the renaissance, of manufacturing," the lifelong Connecticut resident says. "I want those graduating PhDs and master's students to populate the landscape of Tolland and Storrs." Connecticut has a storied history of Yan- kee ingenuity, and between UConn, Yale Uni- versity, Jackson Laboratory and the biomedical and genomics industries, there's a growing criti- cal mass of highly skilled and highly educated scientists, engineers and researchers who are driving the innovation and growth. Bouley is not only putting his money where his mouth is. He is devoting his time and wisdom, and encouraging UConn alumnae to do the same. Bouley is recruiting them to help in whatever way they can, whether it's by pro- viding guidance or becoming angel investors. An avid cyclist who begins his day at 4:30 a.m. with a 45-minute spin, he also volunteers with local economic development organizations. UConn wants to engage with the private sector to forge partnerships, he said, and there are more start-ups ready to launch than there are mentors and investors to back them. At UConn, hundreds of research projects are underway, with professors leading teams of researchers in the areas of molecular cell biol- ogy, genomics, advanced materials, biomedical engineering and cyber security. To help entice angel investing, he worked with the Connecticut Technology Council to create the Connecticut angel investor tax credit for those who finance at least $25,000 in tech- nology and science startups. Since the investor tax credit launched in Connecticut in 2010, $40 million has been invested in 87 companies, according to Connecticut Innovations, a quasi- public agency that provides financing and sup- port to Connecticut's small, growing businesses. One of the companies Bouley has helped launch is Smpl Bio, a bioinformatics startup that came in second place in UConn's 2012 Innovative Quest Competition (iQ). e company, which employs five full-time people as well as three part-time interns, is located Learning to fly Nerac CEO gives wings to Connecticut high-tech start-ups Kevin Bouley is an active recruiter of new tech startups. ' I want those graduating PhDs and master's students to populate the landscape of Tolland and Storrs. ' — Kevin Bouley, Nerac PHOTO/NERAC INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › Education, Research & Technology