USM entrepreneurship program quietly scales down due to funding issues
Courtesy / John Foster
Searsmont-based machinist and inventor John Foster seen last year with the heating cell he's hoping to commercialize after testing it at the University of Southern Maine's Gorham campus as part of the Campus Ventures program.
Campus Ventures, an engineering and entrepreneurship program at the University of Southern Maine, has scaled down, lost two staff members and ended its effort to develop a business incubator after losing its primary funding source and failing to find a new one.
Mike Wing, USM’s director of external programs, confirmed to Mainebiz that two full-time staff members were laid off after the program ran out of its share of a three-year, $493,577 grant from the Maine Technology Institute in June, the only funding source it had left nearly a year after running out of a grant from the Maine Economic Improvement Fund.
The three-year MTI grant, awarded in March 2011, was split between the USM and University of Maine Orono campuses, and was matched by a $576,000 grant from UMaine’s Advanced Manufacturing Center and USM’s Manufacturing Applications Center.
Wing said the program is still running, but at a smaller capacity after he was unable to find a new source of funding, including from the university itself — which is currently facing a $16 million deficit and had three of its programs cut earlier this week. The lack of funding also caused the program to end its participation in the development of a manufacturing business incubator with the town of Raymond, as reported by the Lakes Region Weekly last week.
As described by Wing, Campus Ventures is an experiential learning program that partners students with entrepreneurs and companies to help them test and commercialize products. Since the program began in 2010, more than 100 students, mostly undergraduates representing various majors, have worked on more than 70 projects, including a cow health monitoring system and a cylindrical heating device that were featured in Mainebiz last year.
The program, which runs in tandem with a similar one at the University of Maine at Orono, seeks to boost the state’s technology sector, create more manufacturing and research jobs and assist companies that need help with R&D and commercialization services. USM’s program, in particular, can provide companies access to equipment they otherwise may not be able to afford or obtain, including 3D scanners and printers and corrosion testing devices.
Wing said the program is currently working on about six projects. “We’re bringing in projects that we know we can manage,” he said. “As the university gets through some of its budgetary changes and adjustments, then we can revisit this and figure out how to move forward.”
Wing said he is continuing to search for new sources of funding and possible business partnerships that could give the program a boost. Despite the current situation, he said he is optimistic the program can return to its former level of operation. “It’s important for [everyone] to know this is seen as an important program and is still operating,” he said.
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