Duncan Moore believes the crowning blow to the region came when University of Rochester became the area’s largest employer, replacing Eastman Kodak Co. Having that role belong to an academic institution, instead of a business, should be a wake-up call, he said.

“If we don’t change the way Rochester thinks about itself we will be in a death spiral,” said Moore, the UR’s Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake professor of optical engineering and biomedical engineering.

Moore also served as associate director for technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President William Clinton. Moore is hoping to help change that mindset with a new role at UR.

He is serving in the new position of director of entrepreneurship activities. He took over entrepreneurship duties in July and the center became a formal entity of UR—reporting to the provost’s office— some two months ago.

The new job is similar to Moore’s role as the former CEO of Canandaigua-based Infotonics Technology Center Inc., where he studied the way science and technology play into economic development.

“I feel the community is more receptive than before,” he said.

Moore believes that entrepreneurship and innovation need to be seen more as one entity, particularly with the rising number of high-technology startups emerging. He has first-hand knowledge in the area as the founder of Roch-ester-based Gradient Lens Corp., an optics company built on research he completed at the university.

The increased focus on entrepreneurship started in late 2003 when UR, along with seven other institutions across the country, received a multiyear grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a Missouri-based organization focused on advancing entrepreneurship and improving the education of children and youth.

The foundation awarded $3.5 million to UR, which, with matching funds is part of a f ive-year, $10.5 million program focusing on entrepreneurship campuswide. An entrepreneurship panel was established at the university and related efforts are under way in a variety of disciplines there, from the Eastman School of Music to the UR’s medical center.

UR was the only university in the Northeast to receive the Kauffman funding.

Kauffman campuses initiatives grants also went to Washington University in St. Louis, Wake Forest University, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, University of Texas at El Paso, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Howard University, and Florida International University in Miami.

In addition, in November, Arunas Chesonis, chairman and CEO of Paetec Communications Inc., and his wife, Pamela, pledged $1.5 million to the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at UR over the next three years to establish Chesonis Entrepreneurial Scholarships for full-time MBA students interested in entrepreneurship.

Moore said the focus on entrepreneurship will have a positive impact on the local economy.

Among the programs Moore oversees is the master’s degree program in science and technology commercialization. Started last year, the three-semester Web-based program is a partnership with the University of Texas at Austin.

There are three local students in the program. Students work in teams of four on three stages of tech development—assessing the commercial viability of an actual new technology, developing a strategy to take it to market, then presenting the results to business leaders and venture capitalists for startup help.

Peter Waasdorp, Simon School executive professor of business administration who coordinates the master’s program, said the degree can benefit employees of existing corporations who are developing new businesses with the firm and for those looking toward startups.

Minette Beabes, a customer engagement technical program manager at Xerox Corp., said there are many benefits to the graduate program.

Beabes likes the hands-on learning approach the degree program offers for a variety of subjects, from protecting intellectual property to marketing a product and positioning the company.

“We are learning how to enter a market and compete with large corporations, without being squashed immediately,” she said.

Beabes felt she was at a point in her career when it was time to retrain. She considered an MBA but opted for the new master’s degree because it focused more on technology and startup efforts. She is also interested in startup efforts at larger corporations.

James Roussie, senior research analyst at the URMC’s Office of Corporate Alliances, also likes the program’s approach.

“We are gaining an understanding of the technological commercialization process from a holistic sense,” Roussie said. The contacts made through the program are also a benefit. Other students taking the class in Texas include business executives from Fortune 500 companies, pharmaceutical firms and businesses in gaming, real estate and financial services.

“The program attracts people who want to be on the leading edge of what they are doing,” Roussie said.

The professors and speakers are also top-notch and have included the chief technology officer from Dell Corp. and a futurist with the CIA.

Tuition is $46,000 for the program and scholarships are available. The next class begins in April and Waasdorp would like up to 10 students to enroll. Recruiting is under way.

Tuition could be a moot point down the road, Waasdorp said.

“With the cost of developing a new technology into a product, if this program allows you to make one right decision— including not to pursue the technology— the (tuition) becomes a rounding error in the total cost of the process,” Waasdorp said.

Moore said other plans related to entrepreneurship activities at UR include an international business plan contest aimed at the Greater Lake Ontario region. He believes the area, where 11 million people live within 50 miles of Lake Ontario, is a way to market the region.

Two other programs under way within the entrepreneurship program are:

• The Young Entrepreneurs Academy— A year-long program for students in grades six through 12 led by Robert Tobin, former CEO of Tobin & Assoc. Inc. The program focuses on turning an idea into an enterprise. The academy teaches students to become entrepreneurs by offering them the opportunity to write a business plan, pitch to potential investors, obtain funding and launch their company.
  
  Students receive instruction on matters relating to the process of operating a business. Students see real-world adaptations of entrepreneurial ideas through discussions with guest lecturers and field trips.
  
  As groups, students brainstorm ideas for business creation or social change they would like to initiate, then develop a business plan for one. The plans include all the components of a successful business, which they then will manage throughout the course, including financing, marketing and selling the product or idea. The goal is to establish academy sites in Batavia, Geneseo and Geneva, Tobin said.


• Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year—The KEY program gives students majoring in science and engineering a chance to pursue classes that will round out their entrepreneurship experience in a fifth year of study at no cost.
  
  Moore hopes the program will help entice students to establish themselves as entrepreneurs here after graduation. The KEY program is a way to market the area to a younger generation.
  
  “Selling ourselves as a great place to raise a family doesn’t fly with 21-year-olds,” Moore said.

adeckert@rbj.net / 585-546-8303