ACTiVATE wins national award
Tuesday, November 8, 2011(Path Forward Center)
ACTiVATE® WOMEN’S
ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM RECEIVES
NATIONAL AWARD FOR IMPROVING
REGIONAL ECONOMIES THROUGH
SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
BALTIMORE – November 8, 2011
– ACTiVATE®, the flagship program of the
Path Forward Center for Innovation
and Entrepreneurship, garnered national
recognition from the State Science and
Technology Institute (SSTI) as the 2011 winner
of the Excellence in Tech-based Economic
Development (TBED) for commercializing research
and increasing the number of technology-based
startups founded by women.
“ACTiVATE® is a compelling program achieving impressive results from a modest investment,” said Dan Berglund, SSTI president and CEO. “ACTiVATE® provides a replicable model for commercializing research by enabling underrepresented but motivated groups to become engaged in the creation of tech-based startups.”
Since its creation in 2005 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) through a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Innovation program, over 130 women have been ACTiVATE’D creating over 40 companies and hundreds of jobs. An independent economic impact study conducted in 2010 found the cost of job creation through ACTiVATE to be significantly lower than most economic development programs, and less than 20% of the cost of jobs projected by the federal stimulus package. The Path Forward Center licensed ACTiVATE from UMBC in 2010 in order to expand the program. Thanks in part to a recent grant from the Kauffman Foundation, ACTiVATE is poised for replication and is currently seeking expansion partners in regions wanting to spur job creation and/or technology commercialization.
“The process has been proven to be a catalyst for women interested in starting growth-oriented companies, and this award provides further affirmation that we’re on the right track, ” states Julie Lenzer Kirk, co-founder and CEO of the Path Forward Center. “While we are proud to act as a catalyst for economic creation, the real credit must go to the entrepreneurs – our ACTiVATE’D women - who are driving the positive outcomes against all odds.”
About the Path Forward Center for
Innovation and
Entrepreneurship:
The Path
Forward Center for Innovation and
Entrepreneurship is a catalyst for economic
change by activating women to build their
Business Beyond One™. Its inaugural program,
ACTiVATE®, helps women start
technology-enabled businesses from a variety of
sources including technology transfer and then
brings together complimentary programs to help
women build capacity as they grow and scale
their businesses.
About
SSTI
The State Science and
Technology Institute is a national nonprofit
organization that leads, supports and
strengthens efforts to improve state and
regional economies through science, technology
and innovation. http://www.ssti.org/