UM Opens Office to Link its Expertise, Resources with Business
There might be ways your business could benefit from access to the top-notch research and brainpower of a major university. But would you know where to get started making contact with one?
University of Michigan is taking a big step toward making interaction between itself and the business community a lot easier. Today UM will officially open its new Business Engagement Center – an office designed to provide “one-stop shopping” for businesses seeking to recruit students, gain access to university expertise, get professional development help for employees, or launch research partnerships.
The center is funded jointly by the UM Office of the Vice President for Research and the Office of University Development.
It's a novel approach that's likely to be emulated by other U.S. universities, said Daryl Weinert, the center's interim executive director.
"At pretty much every university around the country, corporate relations is handled exclusively by the Office of Development," Weinert said. "While corporate gifts enable many exciting things on campus, there is so much more we can do with industry. With research and development working jointly on the Business Engagement Center, we've created a new model that is unique in the country. We'll be able to form win-win partnerships on many fronts that benefit both the companies and the university."
The center, in the Galleria Building at 1214 S. University Ave., shares 17,000 square feet of second-floor space with the recently relocated UM Office of Technology Transfer. The two offices will work together to strengthen UM ties to business and community partners, while helping to revitalize and diversify the state's ailing economy.
"Our objective is to make our large and complicated university more 'user friendly' in such a way that the UM can have the maximum impact and influence in accelerating the economic transformation of our region into the knowledge economy," said Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest, the driving force behind several campus initiatives to boost university-industry partnerships.
The Business Engagement Center and the Office of Technology Transfer will celebrate their new location at an invitation-only open house today.
The Tech Transfer office – which seeks to transfer research discoveries to make existing businesses more competitive and to create new startups – moved to the new location after 15 years in Wolverine Tower, 2.8 miles to the south.
To contact the Business Engagement Center, call (734) 647-1000 or visit: www.bec.umich.edu.
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There might be ways your business could benefit from access to the top-notch research and brainpower of a major university. But would you know where to get started making contact with one? 
