The Hinterlands: Unmatched Business Opportunity
Dec. 4, 2009
By Rebecca Townsend
Mizzou grad and Silicone Valley entrepreneur Jim Spencer was inspired by the combination of MU’s stature as an incubator of journalistic excellence and the environment created by REDI and local investors, one that welcomes new business. Spencer returned to Columbia to launch Newsy.com, a new venture in online news. For him, the choice between Columbia and California was no contest:
"We want to put our company in the smartest, most economically viable place we can."
Increasing transportation infrastructure and achieving citywide wireless internet access – services that help Mid-Missouri connect with the outside world – will help the continued evolution of the local new media industry, said Jack Miller, owner of True Media, a firm that offers consulting on new media issues to companies across North America.
An exclusive focus on Mid-Missouri connectivity, Miller said, "is not going to create an economic engine; we have to be able to get those services out."
And, as the community’s effort to grow new ventures continues, issues of real estate development will take on ever-greater importance as residents weigh the costs of doing business downtown against the advantages of outward expansion. While Columbia City Councilman Jerry Wade hoped new businesses ventures would help fuel downtown revitalization efforts, entrepreneur Brant Bukowsky highlighted some of the existing barriers:
"There a reason right now that we’re not downtown. We're less than a mile from downtown, the rent is 75-65% cheaper and we have more Internet connectivity – we have more ability to expand. We'd love to be downtown in a place that' high tech, but we've got to have incentive."
Just as being a great cook doesn’t translate into being a successful restaurant owner, a genius in nanotechnology may not possess the knowledge to commercialize new findings, said Jim Gann of MU's Small Business Development Center. His facility provides and on-campus resources for bridging some of these gaps through education and networking and works in partnership with the Missouri Innovation Center.
The key to successful entrepreneurship isn’t genetic, it's more dependent on how well they utilize available resources, said the Innovation Center's Chief Executive Jake Halliday.
"(they) somehow leverage resources they don't necessarily own or control."
In partnership with companies like Apple and Adobe that are willing to sponsor competitions designed to reward innovation with commercial potential, the University is finding financial incentives inspire students to move their ideas to the marketplace.
In addition, local mentors are helping students to advance their own independent business models, as well. The more they see the university and the local community invested in their personal success without trying to attach direct financial claim to the profits, the more apt they will be to remain in Columbia to pursue their business models after graduation, students said.
For more information on REDI, click here or contact Michele Holmes at 573-442-8303.