Northern Kentucky's Entrepreneurial Spirit

Entrepreneurship is a necessary and integral component of the business community in any vibrant and growing region. Contrary to what people might think, entrepreneurship often thrives during down economic times.  When you think of entrepreneurship, you may think of hot spots like Silicon Valley, Austin or Boston.  But, Northern Kentucky has a thriving entrepreneurial climate that is largely driven by the ezone, a division of Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation (Tri-ED).

The ezone was created in 2001 with the mission to accelerate, mentor, align capital and gain exposure for start-up, emerging and existing technology and high growth businesses. Soon after its founding, the ezone was designated by the Kentucky Department of Commercialization & Innovation as one of six regional Innovation and Commercialization Centers in the state.  

In June 2007, the ezone merged with Northern Kentucky Tri-ED. Since then, the ezone has doubled the number of new jobs and firms it has worked with in the region, assisting in the creation of 973 new jobs with over 150 firms in Northern Kentucky.  The ezone has assisted Northern Kentucky companies in securing more than $61 million in funding from a variety of sources.

“Our mission at the ezone is to incubate, mentor and gain exposure for start-up, emerging and existing technology and equity based businesses,” says Dan Tobergte, President and CEO of Northern Kentucky Tri-ED.  “We do this through a variety of programs and help secure funding for businesses from the Kentucky Enterprise Fund, venture capital and angel funds, and other state grants.”

Among the high-technology businesses in Northern Kentucky the ezone has assisted are dbaDirect, Tier1 Performance Solutions and smaller companies such as H2H, Collective Commerce and LeanCor.  “We help entrepreneurs and small businesses access funds ranging from $30,000 to $750,000 to commercialize high-tech/high-growth companies and ideas,” says Keith Schneider, commercialization director at the ezone.  

“The funding enables individuals or businesses to create and market new products, technologies and processes.  The funding received from Kentucky can assist or compliment companies whose strategy includes raising capital.” Added Schneider, “There are several application periods per year and the Spring, 2009 deadline is May 7th.”

Most recently, the ezone assisted three companies in receiving $530,000 in funding from the Commonwealth of Kentucky through the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC) including Bexion Pharmaceuticals, Edunet24 (ELL Bridge) and Clinical Engineering Consultants, Inc. In collaboration with the NKU Innovation Center, Clinical Engineering Consultants, Inc. (CEC) of Erlanger received a $30,000 award and will use it to fund development of medical technology management software.  Edunet24 is an online provider of multi-lingual education services.  Bexion is developing cures for cancer with a first-in-class biologic product with data-driven potential for treatment of a range of human cancers.  Both Bexion and Edunet24 are seeking additional investors.

TiER1 Performance Solutions, a leading provider of end-to-end online learning and knowledge management solutions, recently received SBIR-STTR Matching Funds of $99,982 from KSTC for research on “Accelerated Learning through Serious Game Technology” for the Department of Defense.

Northern Kentucky Tri-ED's ezone can assist start-up companies and existing companies with their growth or expansion strategies. At a time when funding from traditional sources may be difficult to secure, the ezone can help companies access grants and funding from Kentucky, angel networks and venture capital firms.