Women Activate Careers Through UMBC Program

By Steve Charing, STAFF WRITER



Kris Appel applied her technical skills for 17 years at the National Security Agency before moving on to become a vice president at a technology company in Hunt Valley. She liked it there, but when she happened across a flier for a new program geared toward career women interested in starting their own technology-based business, she visualized a great opportunity. In 2006, Appel enrolled in ACTiVATE, which stands for Achieving the Commercialization of Technology in Ventures Through Applied Training for Entrepreneurs.

"I always wanted to have my own business," Appel said in her company's third-floor office in the American Can Factory building in Canton. "I like the creative process of starting from scratch, and ACTiVATE was invaluable."

Originally funded by a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation, ACTiVATE is designed to attract mid-career women with a minimum of five years of work experience primarily in the technical and business fields who would like to start technology-based companies.



Commercialization of Innovations Needed

Universities within the state spend nearly $2 billion annually in research. However, Maryland has lagged behind most of the nation when it comes to commercializing research and discoveries. Only 12 startup companies are typically formed from 500 annual invention disclosures generated by Maryland universities.

Seeing the need to close this gap and to seek better-trained, more experienced entrepreneurs, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), launched ACTiVATE in 2005.

"The ACTiVATE program provides an awareness of entrepreneurship for a significant number of women, who traditionally have been underrepresented among entrepreneurs," stated UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski on the program's web site.

Candidates are recruited primarily from the Baltimore-Washington area. To enroll, a prospective participant must submit her rŽsumŽ and a statement of interest in the program and is then interviewed by program faculty and administrators.

Training takes place at UMBC's Tech Center and runs from February to December with a $1,500 tuition. Classes are held on Monday nights and one Saturday a month.

The curriculum in the two-semester program is segmented into three phases - Opportunity Analysis, Business Development and Commercial Analysis - and covers such topics as how to read a patent, market environment/regulation, and sales forecasting and pricing. Through 2007, 72 women of 85 enrolled completed the ACTiVATE course.

The program is partnered with several local academic, government and corporate entities. ACTiVATE participants have access to inventions and technologies from regional universities and research institutions. Those facilities include The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, among others. The participants develop plans to commercialize suitable technologies and start companies with support from instructors, local entrepreneurs and advisers from the business community.



Pieces Come Together

Through ACTiVATE, Kris Appel founded Encore Path Inc. in December 2006. The company is centered on a rehabilitation technology developed by two University of Maryland, Baltimore, physical therapists for stroke survivors. She currently is seeking manufacturers for a patented arm-training device which will be marketed directly to stroke survivors this year.

As a new entrepreneur, Appel acknowledges her main challenge is raising money. "About 51% of new businesses are started by women," she noted. "But the majority of the available investment money does not follow that trend." Nonetheless, Encore Path did receive more than $74,000 from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO).

Appel enjoys seeing the pieces come together. She received a first-place prize in a business plan competition from the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore and Rockville Economic Development Inc. (REDI).

"This could not have been done without ACTiVATE," Appel explained. "The training structure mimicked the opening of a company. It helped me put together a business plan [and with] getting the financials together and building a network."

She also likes that ACTiVATE is for women. "It provides a very supportive environment."



National Recognition

ACTiVATE has received several awards for its innovative approach in fostering technology-based startup companies. The Association of University Research Parks (AURP) presented its 2007 National Innovation Award to ACTiVATE in St. Louis this past October.

"We are thrilled that UMBC and the ACTiVATE program were recognized by AURP with [the] Innovation Award," said RenŽe Winsky, president and executive director of TEDCO. "The program has proven to be instrumental in growing the number of women entrepreneurs commercializing groundbreaking research being developed in labs throughout the state and starting new businesses. In fact, we are so thrilled with the success of the program, TEDCO [provided] a $50,000 grant award to UMBC to expand our continued support of the effort."

Most recently, the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) recognized ACTiVATE at its national conference in San Antonio. ACTiVATE was selected as the "Best Specialty Entrepreneurship Education Program." USASBE is considered to be the leading voice in entrepreneurship research, teaching and application.

A total of 15 new companies have been launched as a result of the ACTiVATE program to date, and the 2008 class has close to 30 women enrolled. "It feels great to create a program like ACTiVATE that has been recognized nationally as an innovative model for technology transfer and economic development," said Stephen Auvil, co-principal investigator for the program. "I never could have imagined the enthusiasm that the participants would have for the program or the impact that it would have on their lives."

Kris Appel would agree.