Post & Mail photo/TJ Hemlinger
Sean P. Ryan, the director of university engagement at IPFW, outlines his office’s programs to a luncheon Friday at the Eagle’s Nest. “My job is to introduce business and academia,” he said. “Whitley County has been one of the more active markets.” The office serves 13 counties in northeastern Indiana and puts businesses in touch with academic offices that may help them with expansion.

By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff writer

    The many talents and resources of IPFW and its two parent universities, Purdue and Indiana, are available to businesses small and large through the efforts of Sean P. Ryan, director of university engagement at the school.
    Ryan outlined what his office offers at a luncheon of businesspeople and county officials Friday at the Eagle’s Nest. Ryan came to the academic world from a position as project engineer at BF Goodrich and as an instructor in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program.
    “We have a key partner in Sean Ryan,” Alan Tio, president of the Economic Development Corp., said. “He can access any resources available.”
    The office of University Engagement was created in 2005 when it was recognized by the business community that something like it was necessary. It’s a four-way relationship among the business community and the three universities involved.
    “It’s a link between business and the higher education community where we can create value and have mutually beneficial partnerships,” Ryan said.
    There are approximately 250 businesses spread over 13 northeastern Indiana counties that the office is working with.
    The office’s mission is to “match IPFW, Purdue and Indiana University expertise and intellectual property to the regional needs of northeast Indiana to enhance economic development and improve the quality of life for its citizens.”
    It has three objectives: to serve as a contact for programs at the three schools for businesses, government and community partnerships; facilitate access to research capabilities, technical expertise, intellectual property and educational services and internship or co-op programs; and provide representation for regional businesses to the universities.
    Ryan called one example “nuisance projects,” where a company has a problem but there’s not enough return on investment to put a full-time employee on it.
    There are about 12,000 students at IPFW, and Ryan said their strengths are quite “complimentary to each other.” He outlined various resources available from Purdue and Indiana and noted that there are about 210 businesses that are clients of University Engagement.
    The office has a success rate of about 40 percent to 45 percent, Ryan said.
    “We have small targets that are high-yield,” he said.
    For example, one area University Engagement is working in involves the Institute for Pension Plan Management. Brand-new, it seeks to have the business community give feedback to the university that will help individuals be successful in the field. It expects to have students graduate and be ready to move into the field to help individuals.
    Another is a competition that chooses the three best business plans submitted to share a $50,000 award toward start-up expenses. In four years there still are eight or nine businesses still going strong, Ryan said.
    “Any northeast Indiana resident who has an idea can submit a proposal,” he said. “Our goal is to light the wick. We teach them what to do, how to get resources and how to get the business off the ground.”
    One company that was helped by IPFW is the first responder system in Fort Wayne. The office helped find an expert to work with the business and develop a plan for action in case there is an incident that requires multiple emergency response teams at the same site.
    “Whitley County has been one of the more active markets,” Ryan said.
    Tio said, “The goal is to create new opportunities for existing businesses.”
    Brian Emerick, owner and president of Micropulse, which is undergoing an expansion of 47,000 square feet at its facility on state Route 14, said, “It’s another arrow in the quiver. They come in to add value or retain jobs. Micropulse has been one of their best customers.
    “Sean is such an asset to the community. He was instrumental in the start-up we did at the Purdue Technical Center. He follows through. He can hook you up with the right people. It’s a tremendous catalyst.”