innovate hampton roads task force meeting notes 11 29 10

8/8/2019 Innovate Hampton Roads Task Force Meeting Notes 11 29 10

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Vision Hampton Roads: Innovation Task ForceFailure is not an option, it's a requirement.

Date and Time: Monday, November 29, 2010 @ 3:00pm

Location: VMASC, Room 2100A

1. Welcome, Introductions Chair Joe Bouchard called the meeting to order, gave the welcomeand invited members to introduce themselves:

Lee Beach

Bill Bean

Judy BeglandDan Bell

Joe Bouchard

Greg Byrd

Ellen Diggs

Doug Dwoyer

Tim Early

Jarrett Early

Karen Eck

Kenny Golden

Scott HallZohir Handy

Marty Kaszubowski

Cynthia Keppel

2. Communication MessagingMarketing is a big need, and there is just no budget for it currently. Were relying on vo-

lunteers for the present time.

Showed the first draft of a PowerPoint Slide Show to begin socializing the transforma-tion ofInnovate!HamptonRoads (IHR) and creating buzz.

Comments: Who is the audience? Business-to-business, to start. Appears to be one leveltoo high and too short on specifics. What are the labs, the university assets? How does

that tie to innovation? Should play off clusters that exist with any specifics such as num-

bers of jobs, etc. The natural opening slide is #14 which features 200 yrs ago we were

agrarian, 100 years ago we were industrial, etc. Where is IdeaWorks? The name didn't

play well as we pursued EDA grants so it was eliminated for now. The perception was that

IdeaWorks was another organization. Others outside of the inner circle of IHR were con-

fused by the additional term and would like to see acronyms eliminated.

Showed the first draft of a shorter Commercial.

Rick Lally

Gretchen LeFever

Larry LombardiJeff Maisey

Donna Morris

Tom Osha

Mike Provance

Bob Rea

Missy Schmidt

Jim Schultz

John Smolak

Bill Wasilenko

Bob WilliamsTerry Woodworth

Mike Yazkowsky

Vision Hampton Roads GOAL:

With proper foresight, continuous planning and dynamic economic

development, Hampton Roads will be recognized internationally as

a region fueled by Innovation, Intellectual and Human Capital,

Infrastructure and a Sense of Place.


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Comments: Who is the audience? Again, business-to-business to start as we need to at-

tract investment and enthusiasm. Should always add Virginia to Hampton Roads as no

one knows us; this will be seen outside the area, too. I don't see entrepreneurs in that

message; we need to see their faces and hear their success stories in the message. I have

acronym choke and don't like the use of STEM. Can we show the great things that NASA

or JLab is doing versus just their logos. The greatest assets in Hampton Roads are our

people and skill sets and they need to be highlighted. This needs to be more business-

oriented; it is too educational and too research lab driven. These should be at bottom not

at top of the message. Incubation challenges that have been turned into successes should

be addressed.

Please email communication recommendations to [email protected]


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3. Framework for an incubation system in Hampton RoadsPrimary focus at this stage is on the incubation system framework, i.e. defining the incu-

bation process, nurturing innovators and promoting entrepreneurship. Incubators are

programs and not buildings, and a regional approach makes the most sense.

A recent Syracuse NY study cited that companies working inside incubators grew faster

and larger than those outside. There is an intrinsically greater value to growing tech jobs

no matter the stakeholders industry. Everyone gains, including insurance, legal, etc.

Changing the entrepreneurial spirit here is key; failure in Hampton Roads is a scarlet let-

ter while in Silicon Valley, it is a badge of honor.

Technology Hampton Roads(THR) Hampton Incubator is thin on clients. They are sche-

duled to move into a new building which will offer wet lab facilities, be closer to more

universities and generate some revenue from rent. A new approach is that THR is the an-

gel investor in some companies which is not working here the way it does in places like

Orlando.

Where is the news? When the Hampton Incubator was first set up, reporters were hungry

for information. How do we get the popular press interested?We could make entrepreneurship a practice area, like mod sim. Were losing aeronautical

engineers and where do they go to work? Google coops them. Lets give them an oppor-

tunity here on the east coast. Buzz is needed around this topic; we need good news sto-

ries. We need to focus on real problems and projects and channel students to "run" the

business in a real life scenario.

Can we stir up a community outside of the classroom; a club? A competition? They don't

exist here. How do we teach acting like an entrepreneur. William & Mary just opened a

Center for Entrepreneurship. http://mason.wm.edu/entrepreneurship/index.php

Knowledge worker young professionals, including entrepreneurs, have left the area. There

are examples of some that are here and they should be engaged: Grow Interactive ,http://ThisIsGrow.com, in Norfolk; We Are Titans,http://www.WeAreTitans.net, moved

here from Silicon Valley. These are the kinds of young entrepreneurs to get engaged and

bring them to the table.

We need some big enticements at the local level, such as a tax incentive for new entre-

preneurs to get monetary help to spur economic development. The State needs to pitch

in, too.

The Innovation Research Park at ODU, http://www.irpodu.com, is designed for those who

graduate from incubator system. ipConfigure http://www.ipConfigure.com, an ODU grad-

uate, is an example of a success story there. The IRP fills a space in the incubation conti-

nuum. The purpose of the ODU Business Gateway is to fill the need for business-work-for-hire not research-oriented work.

Great teachers and researchers don't make great business people. We have to define

what do I do if Ive got a technology, but I need help to commercialize it. We must match

entrepreneurs and management talent with money. We have the facilities in the region,

we need people to fill them.

ODU has a broader network nationwide, which can help market Hampton Roads. We

need to take a few baby steps for success. Suggestion is to avoid federal or DoD money

and look for commercial ventures instead to aid in economic diversification. Wexford, a


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private equity firm, is looking at how to set up the system for funding eligibility. Hampton

Roads has the opportunity to answer the question: How could we best use that money?

Back to culture: there is a general openness on the west coast; the culture is very open

and sharing. The Hampton Roads economy, on the other hand, is based on a zero sum

game, i.e. with military and tourism. There is no benefit to collaboration, and in many in-

stances, there are rules against it. Innovate!HamptonRoads is certainly not about ignor-

ing the military or forsaking any pillars of the economy. But there is a tech benefit forthem as well with new technology developed. Exiting military make good CEOs and men-

tors, too.

The Franklin-Southampton Incubator is focused on mixed-use business services and would

like to collaborate more with ODU since their only education link currently is to Paul D.

Camp Community College.

Innovate!HamptonRoads (IHR) must develop a regional process for incubation and acce-

leration and put it in place at each incubator so that no matter what door an entrepre-

neur enters in the region, they have access to all of the regions assets. Connectivity is

what is needed.

The Miami-Dade region is going through the same exercise as IHR right now. The St. Louismetros innovation is singularly focused on Monsanto. Baltimore is focused on a medical

genome project. Chicago has big EDA support with big companies mentoring small com-

panies.

What are they few things we can articulate and draw people here to Hampton Roads?

The Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP) is to be applauded for their efforts, but the Hamp-

ton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA) needs to be included. HREDA is the

sales force for Hampton Roads; they need to understand the clusters. What is the mes-

sage? What are they supposed to sell? HREDA can promote soft landings.

There are 27 sister-city relationships with Norfolk alone; that should be leveraged.

What is entrepreneurship to us in Hampton Roads? Is it promoting clusters or a type ofbehavior? Or both? How do we create a buzz? What should we ask school superinten-

dents to put in place in schools? What is our shared concept?

Driving more new business startup is the narrow focus of entrepreneurship. Small busi-

nesses are stuck in neutral. There is real value in a regional approach and in setting the

bar, that we as a region believe entrepreneurism is our key to success. This atmosphere

and attitude is an excellent selling feature for HREDA.

If we are after a cultural change, then education certainly has to be brought into play.

The James City County Incubator may be too far away from the local scene. It was started

with four tech companies and when they graduated, no more have been identified. Their

successes have all been outside of the tech industry. They use a category methodology

now based on academic, relocation and soft-start international program (one from Malay-

sia and one from Australia). It is difficult for a single community to support an incubator.

If someone wants to start a company in Hampton Roads, do they really know where to

go? We need many components: SCORE, SBDC, a one-stop-shop regional incubator.

From the economic development departments perspective, we need an ecosystem,

which takes entrepreneurs from point A to point B and provides access to the almost im-


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ADDENDUM

A follow-up meeting held on December 3, 2010 determined next steps. Attendees:

Joe Bouchard

Dana Dickens

Doug Dwoyer

Marty Kaszubowski

Rick Lally

Donna Morris

Missy Schmidt

A. Incubator CommitteeThe following people will be tasked with creating a draft program of Incubation on Pur-

pose or Incubation & Acceleration in a Box based on the needs and assets of Hamp-

ton Roads and focused on proactive commercialization: Marty Kaszubowski, Lead; Tim

Early; Bill Bean; Bob Rea, and Tom Osha. This draft will then be reviewed with the com-

plete Incubators group for refinement or concurrence. For consideration is the need for

a uniform Hampton Roads Incubator Assessment which includes jurisdictional specialrequirements.

B. Identification of ResourcesRecognizing that little to no funds are available for marketing, additional resources, in-

cluding volunteers, are needed. Dan Bell (Canon), who has volunteered his time and tal-

ents to help with crafting the message (slideshow and commercial shown), is also

charged with identifying and inviting additional people and organizations to the table.

C. Entrepreneurs1. A Hampton Roads Entrepreneurs Meet-Up (or Meet-ups, as needed) will be sche-

duled to brainstorm with some of the regions entrepreneurs (not service providers) to

define, diversify and develop what Hampton Roads entrepreneurial culture

should/could look like and how do we get there? A hip local entrepreneur will be ap-

proached for hosting as it was felt this would be more meaningful as a grassroots effort.

2. Reaching out to and connecting the right people is important to the success of

Innovate!HamptonRoads. Anyone who knows of an existing or potential entrepreneur

or other person or organization of interest, please email the contact information to

[email protected].

D. Strategic Communication and Marketing1. A meeting was held this week with Drew Ungvarsky of Grow Interactive to discuss

messaging to create buzz. Drew offered two examples:- Raleigh Denim http://vimeo.com/13517107

- Detroit Lives (if you only watch one part, watch the first one)

http://www.palladiumboots.com/exploration/detroit

2. Jim Schultz and Marty Kaszubowski volunteered to work on initial messaging script.

3. Website is under construction. All content suggestions and volunteers are appre-

ciated. Template will be similar to http://PlugAndPlayTechCenter.com.

4. Please find attached a one-sheet: What is InnovateHamptonRoads.

innovate hampton roads task force meeting notes 11 29 10

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