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When entrepreneurs and business leaders seek assistance at the University of Michigan, they're sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer volume and variety of the research underway there.
The new UM Business Engagement Center is designed to make the process more manageable. Scheduled to open early next year, the center will provide one-stop shopping for businesses and industry researchers seeking university expertise.
The Business Engagement Center is part of the Office of the Vice President for Research's campus-wide effort to strengthen UM ties to industry and to help resuscitate Michigan's economy. The campaign also includes the Michigan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, a fledgling partnership between Michigan universities and philanthropic foundations announced last month by UM President Mary Sue Coleman.
The Business Engagement Center, a collaboration between the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Office of Development, will move initially to the Galleria Building, 1214 S. University Ave. The building is on the southeastern edge of the Central Campus, between Church Street and South Forest Avenue.
The UM Office of Technology Transfer will move to the same building, leaving Wolverine Tower to be closer to campus and downtown Ann Arbor. The move signals a redoubled effort to create more startup companies and to engage more UM faculty and students in entrepreneurial activities.
With funding from the Office of the Provost, the business center will start with two fulltime employees who will assist walk-in visitors and respond to telephone calls and e-mails. Meeting rooms also will be available at the center.
A permanent home, which could involve other university units, is being planned.
Individual UM schools and colleges such as the College of Engineering already have similar programs in place, but it's never been attempted university wide. UM officials studied what other universities are doing and borrowed ideas from several of them, including the University of Minnesota, the University of Southern California, MIT and Georgia Tech.
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