AUGUST FEATURE
Three’s a Charm
UW-Madison’s Office of Corporate Relations Marks Its Third Anniversary.
They say good things come in threes.
For the staff of the UW Office of Corporate Relations (OCR), that maxim is especially true, as OCR recently celebrated three years of successfully building bridges between the university and the business and financial communities.
“When we started out in July 2003, we were an unknown entity,” says OCR Managing Director Charlie Hoslet. “Today, it’s a different story. The word is out about the Office of Corporate Relations, and we have two times as many companies seeking us out compared to the number of companies we proactively try to contact.”
In fact, the OCR “model” already is being considered by other universities interested in strengthening their ties with businesses.
“University officials from across the United States and in other countries, such as France, the United Kingdom and Japan, have contacted or visited the Office of Corporate Relations to learn about how we operate, so they may replicate our approach to doing business with business,” says Hoslet.
So it may come as no surprise that in its three years of existence, OCR has made significant strides in three key core areas comprising its mission:
- strengthening UW-Madison’s relationship with the business and financial community;
- marketing UW-Madison’s resources to the business community; and
- promoting entrepreneurial businesses.
During the past year in particular, OCR has made great progress forging the business world’s connections with the university and affiliations such as the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), University Research Park, the Wisconsin Alumni Association and the UW Foundation.
Building Stronger Bonds with Business
Time is money — especially in the business world.
And when companies need to tap university resources for the information, consultation and expertise they need, they often don’t know where to look, nor do they have the time to search for it.
That’s where OCR comes in. Simply put, it’s the business world’s front door to the university.
“The Office of Corporate Relations makes it easier for companies to reap the benefits of UW-Madison by simply using us as their main contact point,” says Anjali Sridharan, a university-business liaison at OCR. “All they have to do is call us, tell us what they want, and then we’ll arrange meetings, presentations and whatever is necessary to provide them with what they need.”
In the last year, OCR staff held hundreds of meetings with the businesses, cultivating mutually beneficial relationships between the university and the private sector.
One such success story involved the Manitowoc Crane Group, The Manitowoc Co. Inc.’s largest business segment in Manitowoc, Wis., and the world-renowned manufacturer of lifting equipment for the construction industry.
Sridharan invited Glen Tellock, president of Manitowoc Crane Group and senior vice president of The Manitowoc Co. Inc., to a forum on globalization and engineering presented by UW-Madison’s Department of Engineering Professional Development and by Executive Education. Tellock was so impressed that he invited some of the forum’s speakers to the Manitowoc Crane Group’s corporate headquarters in Manitowoc, Wis., where they shared their expertise on globalization. Since then, the Manitowoc Crane Group has explored deeper ties with UW-Madison through its executive education and engineering professional development programs.
“I am confident OCR will add great value as we look to attract, develop and engage one of the greatest assets of the Manitowoc Co.: our people,” says Tellock.
Noel Radomski, a university-business specialist at OCR, notes that during the last 12 months, companies increasingly have been requesting OCR’s assistance when recruiting UW-Madison graduates, establishing internship and cooperative programs, and taking advantage of continuing education offerings.
“There are at least 17 different offices on campus involved with placing students and graduates in the workforce,” says Radomski. “It’s much easier for companies to get in touch with us first, so we can direct them to the right office on campus for their recruiting needs. And once they contact us about one particular area of interest, we often find that they have additional needs that other areas of the university can fulfill.”
For example, when considering continuing education opportunities at UW-Madison, companies might gravitate toward the School of Business’s Executive Education, Evening MBA and Executive MBA programs.
“But they may not have considered other outstanding programs, such as the School of Human Ecology’s retail program,” Radomski explains. “Our job is to connect companies with the full array of UW programs and offerings.”
Kimberly-Clark Corp., Plexus Corp., Saris Cycling Group, Snap-On Tools, JohnsonDiversey and Miller Brewing Co. are just some of the other companies that have gained from their relationship with OCR.
Marketing UW-Madison to the Business World
OCR also has increased efforts to market UW-Madison’s resources to the business community, with significant success.
Just look at the numbers.
In 2005-06, OCR’s presentations to companies and organizations rose by almost 35 percent compared to the preceding year.
For the first half of 2006, the OCR Web site averaged 65,663 hits per month, with an average of 11,089 users. Featuring a new, streamlined look, the Web site now has corporate sponsors, including Madison Gas and Electric, First Weber Group and Venture Investors LLC.
The OCR Web site’s online business newsletter, UW Business News Wire, is viewed by more than 1,600 per month, accessing more than 7,000 pages. Additionally, the news wire’s 600 regular subscribers gave it an 85 percent “excellent” approval rating.
As a result of OCR’s successful outreach efforts, the number of businesses’ requests for information and/or assistance from OCR jumped from 279 in 2004-05 to 403 in 2005-06.
OCR also intensified its presence at trade shows and conferences, including the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference and the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development. Such efforts have increased the business and investment community’s awareness of UW-Madison’s resources.
OCR Managing Director Charles Hoslet (left) stands with OCR Assistant Director Allen Dines to greet visitors to the UW-Madison booth at BIO2006.
One of the best examples of OCR’s marketing efforts was its key role in organizing and establishing a strong UW-Madison presence at BIO2006 in Chicago.
“As the world’s top biotechnology conference, BIO2006 offered an unparalleled chance to tell academicians, professionals and investors in the biotechnology field about the tremendous opportunities in bioscience at UW-Madison,” explains Hoslet. “Our office, along with other offices across campus, went far beyond events we’ve held in the past.”
UW-Madison’s 400-square-foot booth showcased the university’s growing presence in the world of biotechnology, exemplified by stem cell research pioneer James Thomson and UW-Madison’s WiCell Research Institute, site of the federal government’s first and only national stem cell bank.
OCR also established a “virtual” presence at BIO2006 with a special Web site rich with information about the university’s bioscience expertise. The Web site remains a vital hub of information about UW-Madison’s advances in biosciences.
In surveys following the event, UW-Madison’s presence at BIO2006
earned an overall 97.6 percent positive rating, and 83 percent noted
that they made contact with companies and organizations that may
lead to stronger ties with their respective areas on campus.
Promoting Entrepreneurial Activities on Campus
OCR also plays a vital role boosting entrepreneurial activities on the UW-Madison campus.
“When faculty, staff and students have a technology that may be commercially viable, we walk them through the steps to bring ideas to market,” says OCR Assistant Director Allen Dines. “Early on, we familiarize them with certain pitfalls and connect them with business lawyers, investors and other resources that go hand in hand with tech transfer.”
OCR accomplishes much of this work through the UW-Madison New Business Startup Initiative, which steers UW faculty, staff and students toward special grants and funding, courses, planning and analysis, licensing assistance, consultation and business incubation opportunities.
Thanks to OCR’s recently created Entrepreneurial Resources Web Site, entrepreneurs and others interested in startups can easily and quickly gain access to extensive information on and off campus to help them achieve their goals.
OCR’s interactive programs also spur entrepreneurial growth on campus.
Through the First Look Investor Forums, potential investors learn about nascent technologies developed on campus, so they may have an opportunity to invest in these technologies once they are fully developed.
Another highly successful OCR program is the Early Stage CEO Breakfast Series. Chief executives of early stage companies (with 15 employees or less) participate in breakfast meetings featuring hot topics addressed by experts on and off the UW-Madison campus. In fact, by popular demand, the series has increased in frequency from once every quarter to every other month.
OCR also works closely with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions and the Wisconsin Angel Network to help create connections between early stage private equity investors and emerging companies that are based on UW-Madison research.
“If it weren’t for the UW Office of Corporate Relations, a lot of companies would not even be here,” says Mark Bugher, director of the University Research Park, an internationally respected research and technology park serving as home to many tech-based startup companies with ties to the university. “Through the assistance it provides in the tech transfer process and its small grant programs, the OCR has helped fledgling companies come into being.”
Looking Forward
In addition to its accomplishments, OCR has dealt with significant changes during the past year, such as the retirements of Director of Communications Patrick Strickler and Business Community Consultant Bob Brennan.
Another big change facing OCR is its relocation from the WARF building to University Research Park. However, the move will afford OCR greater room for growth, as well as closer proximity to various startups with which it deals on a continuing basis.
But one thing definitely will remain constant in the years ahead: OCR will continue to focus on strengthening ties with the business and financial community, resulting in more support for the university and a stronger Wisconsin economy.
For more information on the Office of Corporate Relations, read the 2005-06 OCR Annual Report and visit OCR's Web site.
Visit our archives to read articles from previous issues of the UW Business Wire.