20 Nov NanoRite board sets strategic direction for the center, elects officers
Jeff West, former president of Silicon Logic Engineering, and Dr. Charles Sorensen, UW-Stout Chancellor, were elected chair and vice chair of the NanoRite Advisory Board at its initial meeting November 2.
The newly created NanoRite Advisory Board will help Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) by identifying prospective tenants, reviewing marketing activities and strategies and promoting the exchange of ideas and knowledge among businesses and educational institutions.
“The Board is one way we can ensure that NanoRite remains a premier, state-of-the art incubation and innovation center,” said CVTC President Bruce Barker. “Each member has a different area of expertise and totally different business and educational backgrounds. Collectively they are a tremendous resource for NanoRite and CVTC,” said Barker.
With nearly 40,000 square fee of incubator space located at CVTC’s Gateway Campus, NanoRite is currently home to five businesses new to the Chippewa Valley.
“Each tenant is really a partner,” said Barker. “We share lab facilities, equipment, clean room and conferencing center, but most importantly, we share ideas and knowledge. This type of collaboration among businesses and educational institutions saves taxpayers money and promotes regional economic development.”
“NanoRite has already been a great success. It has improved the caliber of our graduates. It has provided internship opportunities. It has helped new businesses be successful, and it has created good paying, high-tech jobs,” said Barker.
Members of the new board include Eau Claire native Mark Bugher, now the director of the University of Wisconsin Research Park; Maliyakal John, intellectual property manager of WiSys; Gwen Southard-Schuppel, CVTC Board member and development manager for the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation; Eau Claire City Manager Mike Huggins; Eau Claire County Administrator Tom McCarty; and CVTC President Bruce Barker.