Business school unveils Venture Center for entrepreneurship

After receiving his M.B.A. at the Kelley School of Business-Indianapolis Michael Hatfield was frustrated with the lack of business resources in Indiana. He desperately wanted to stay in the state, but business opportunities forced him to move to California. \nNow the founder of Calix, a high-speed optical transport firm in Petaluma, Calif., Hatfield has decided to help fix the problem that led to his departure. Hatfield announced Monday that his firm will donate $3 million to the newly founded Indiana Venture Center.\n"He was frustrated by the fact that he couldn't start his own business in Indiana," said Mary Chappell, director of external affairs at the Kelley School in Indianapolis. "So now he wants to make sure resources are here."\nThe Indiana Venture Center consists of a partnership between public and private universities in Indiana that will promote and encourage entrepreneurship in the state. \nThe IVC's main goal is to attempt to ease the "brain drain," the growing trend in which Indiana students leave the state after graduation. Indiana ranks 15th in the nation in producing college graduates, but only 48th when it comes to the percentage of the population with college degrees. According to an Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute study, Indiana ranks last in the country in percentage of its labor force employed in professional specialty occupations.\nIn an attempt to stem the tide, Chappell said business officials at the center will "evaluate high potential growth opportunities in the entrepreneur sector in Indiana."\nThe group will be led by Indiana businessman Steven Beck. Beck will leave his position as senior vice president and founder of the Indianapolis office of Old National Bank to head the program. \nBusiness organizations will also be involved in the IVC. The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship in Indianapolis, which works with IU students and Indiana business owners will also be maintaining an active role in the development process.\n"The Venture Center will help pool our resources and ban together universities in Indiana to emphasize and promote entrepreneurship in the state," said Elizabeth Gatewood, director of the Johnson center.\nTalks are underway with other potential supporters, such as the Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.\nThe center will also involve M.B.A. students from around the state as they will work to maintain an active role in evaluating and developing potential business ideas. \n"It's great that we're tying in all these investors," said Todd Petersen, M.B.A. student at Kelley School at Indianapolis and member of the Johnson Center. \nThe universities involved in the IVC include Ball State, Notre Dame, Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and IU.\n"It is a unique partnership between universities that are usually in competition," Chappell said. \nThe Indiana Venture Center will be located in Indianapolis and should begin operations in October. The next two months will be spent organizing business plans for the center and assembling a top-notch staff. IM Search, a division of Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller, will lead the search for the executive director of the center. \n-- Contact State editor Aaron Uslan at auslan@indiana.edu.