U-M launches Business Engagement Center for one-stop talent shopping
Creating synergies between academia and businesses, that’s the point behind the University of Michigan’s new Business Engagement Center. University officials hope it will serve as one-stop shopping for businesses looking for talent and expertise from the university.
Finding talent, or figuring out what to do with it, is getting easier at the
The Business Engagement Center, just launched in the
“Our objective is to make our large and complicated university more ‘user friendly’ in such a way that the U-M can have the maximum impact and influence in accelerating the economic transformation of our region into the knowledge economy,” says Stephen Forrest, vice president for research at U-M and the driving force behind several campus initiatives to boost university-industry partnerships.
The center shares 17,000 square feet of 2nd-floor space with the recently relocated U-M Office of Technology Transfer. The offices will work together to strengthen U-M ties to business and community partners, while helping to revitalize and diversify the state’s economy.
The Office of Technology Transfer transfers research discoveries to make existing businesses more competitive and to create new startups that stimulate economic growth. The BEC will be able to provide Tech Transfer with the names of potential licensees and business partners.
The staff is expected to grow to seven by the end of June. Most of the employees will be relationship managers who link private-sector partners with appropriate campus experts.
For information on the
Source:
Writer: Jon Zemke
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