.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} If Tom Neel’s hunch is right, he may have discovered a new manufacturing niche that will use one of Iowa’s most common agricultural byproducts.

With a $125,000 grant from the state, his start-up company will be able to test a prototype to pitch to investors. The potential product: a medium-density construction fiberboard made from soybean stalk fibers.

“This funding from the state will help us tremendously to get to the next level, from the lab to actually making a solid enough project to attract investors to build a plant,” said Neel, a fourth-generation lumberyard owner in Panora.

The project is among the first in line to receive funding from a new statewide demonstration fund authorized by the Legislature earlier this year. The fund, which provides a 2-to-1 match up to $150,000 per project, is among several technology commercialization programs the state has launched to encourage the growth of high-technology industries in Iowa and bridge the gap from research to new products.

Among the other programs, which are in various start-up stages themselves, are a small-grant program to assist information technology companies in “upskilling” their employees, student internships for college students, a career awareness marketing campaign for high school students, and funding for industry networking events and supply-chain conferences.

Immediate and long-term needs

Coordinating each of these programs is a new division within the Iowa Department of Economic Development that until last month was known as the Targeted Industries Division. At its meeting in October, the Iowa Economic Development Board renamed it the Division of Innovation and Commercialization.

“These programs are looking at both immediate needs and longer-term needs in ensuring there are trained people coming up in the pipeline,” said Karen Merrick, the division’s administrator.

Working from recommendations made three years ago by the Battelle Memorial Institute, a global consulting company based in Columbus, Ohio, the Legislature established programs to expand three targeted industries in Iowa: advanced manufacturing, biosciences and information technology. Legislators appropriated $6.9 million to fund these programs this fiscal year (see chart).

That funding includes $3 million per year for the next eight years from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, which will provide money for the demonstration fund and to contract with a company to serve as a statewide resource for commercialization.

Neel’s fiberboard project was among eight that sought money from the demonstration fund last month. The eight-person panel that screens the requests is made up of executives from each of the targeted industries. Neel’s project was one of two to receive a recommendation to move forward for consideration by the Iowa Economic Development Board at its next meeting on Nov. 15.

The first eight project proposals are in a sense a “test market” for the demonstration fund, said IDED Director Mike Tramontina. “We’ll find out with this exposure to the market; Is there a real need for (the demonstration fund)? Are these the right dollar amounts?” he said. “We’re exposing ourselves to the market, and we’re going to find out what people have got out there. And hopefully, we can expose them to other resources (such as the regional business accelerators) to keep them going.”

Neel got the idea for the soy fiber product more than four years ago, when the price of fiberboard was soaring. “I had farmers say, ‘Gee, couldn’t they make that from cornstalks?’ Out of curiosity, I started looking into it.”

After several years of research into using soybean stalks to produce the building material, he and a small group of co-investors reached a point where they needed outside funding to proceed further.

“With the (state) funding, we’re going to make a fairly substantial quantity of panels for users to get the support we need to get investors to invest in the project,” he said.

A key strength of the commercialization effort is the level of interaction between industry representatives and Iowa’s state universities, Tramontina said.

“Our role at (IDED) is the convening and helping to divine consensus and an agenda to move forward,” he said. “I really think the reason this has some staying power is that you’ve got (key research people) from the universities involved. They are on the edge of what’s happening in biosciences and technology, and businesses need to get closer to that edge.”

Faster response

Tramontina’s department now has the ability to approve requests for some of these technology assistance funds more quickly. At its October meeting, the Economic Development Board passed a resolution giving the IDED the ability to award funds for the training, networking and internship programs without prior board approval. The department can approve up to $25,000 per application to companies for information technology training, up to $9,300 per application for internships, and up to $3,000 per application for networking, with ratification by the board at its next meeting.

“It’s trying to be responsive to the businesses,” Tramontina said. “If we’re going to get them to take advantage of this and be partners in this upskilling, let’s not take months to do something. If they’re going to hire three interns from Iowa State or Drake, for heaven’s sake, let’s be able to call them back and say, ‘OK, good, approved.’ There’s no benefit to anyone for that delay.”

Alliance Technologies Inc. in Des Moines was among seven Iowa information technology companies that last month collectively received more than $21,000 in training assistance funds. Alliance used its grant, less than $500, toward travel expenses to send three of its consultants to a two-day Microsoft Corp. technology conference in Nebraska. The state can fund requests of up to $25,000 per event, with the company providing $2 for every dollar of state money received.

“It gave our developers the opportunity to learn skills and knowledge they can apply to current architecture and design, development and data storage,” said Jason Lamping, marketing manager for Alliance Technologies. “We have our own on-site data center, so this covers emerging topics. That keeps them on the front of the industry and emerging technologies.”

Similarly, two biosciences trade groups have already used a portion of the $160,000 allocated this fiscal year for networking. In September, the BIOWA Development Association and the Iowa Biotechnology Association each received $3,000 in grants to help pay for networking events.

The Iowa Biotechnology Association used the funds to host an event at the Science Center of Iowa to connect potential buyers and sellers of bio-based materials. The approximately 60 companies represented ranged from “two employees to the John Deere and Vermeer-sized companies,” said Doug Getter, the IBA’s executive director.

“Our primary result is sparking conversations between people,” he said. “We have had several of those occur during the networking event. We’ve also had some conversations between buyers and sellers, and we’re going to do some follow-up on our own on life-sciences activities.”

The networking events are “pretty beneficial,” said Mike Ott, BIOWA’s executive director, whose organization recently hosted Biorenewables on Parade in Riverside. “If you meet 15 people at an event, three to five might be potential business partners. … Especially in the bioeconomy, things are changing so fast, it’s hard to stay on top of what everyone’s doing.”

For more information on the demonstration fund or other commercialization programs, visit www.iowalifechanging.com/business/.