News - Enterprise Innovation Institute

U.S. Department of Agriculture Awards Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership Grant to Address Food Safety

Grant to be used to train food and beverage entrepreneurs in underserved communities in best practices

The pandemic upended the food and beverage industries in ways that are just coming to light, such as the destruction of the peer and mentoring networks new entrepreneurs rely on to learn how to grow their businesses from basement to production.

To help rebuild those essential learning networks and revive some of the training they once offered, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a three-year, $550,000 grant to Georgia Tech’s Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP).

GaMEP, housed in the Enterprise Innovation Institute, Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, will train food industry entrepreneurs in Georgia and the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico in food safety practices and regulations. The grant funding will also be used to train the trainers, which will help rebuild those critical networks.

This is the largest sponsored grant the Enterprise Innovation Institute has received from USDA, marking the importance of the food sector in Georgia.

“The food manufacturing industry is a focus area for GaMEP, as it is the largest manufacturing industry sector in Georgia,” said GaMEP Director Tim Israel. “We have increased our food-industry specific services significantly over the past five years, and this grant will allow us to expand our reach to serve more small and underserved companies to coach them on safe and efficient production processes that will help them grow.”

Expanding GaMEP’s reach to minority and underserved populations is an essential element of the grant.

“The purpose of this grant is to provide free — and this was really important to us — free food-safety training,” said Wendy White, industry manager, food safety and quality, at GaMEP and grant manager. “We’re also coupling that with business development training.”

The training will be focused on entrepreneurs in underserved communities in metro Atlanta, Middle and South Georgia, and Puerto Rico, all areas that have experienced a lot of growth in the food sector.

“Puerto Rico has this amazing cultural heritage around food. Because it is an island, they have concerns about food sovereignty — that is, making enough food to support themselves,” said Brandy Nagel, co-manager on the grant and program manager in the Georgia Minority Business Development Agency Business Center at the Enterprise Innovation Institute. “Part of why we’re including Puerto Rico in this grant is to build capacity on the island for food entrepreneurs to be safe and to scale up their businesses so that they can be successful and profitable.”

Grant partners Fort Valley State University, in Middle Georgia, and PRiMEX, the MEP center in Puerto Rico, will work with GaMEP to reach entrepreneurs in their regions.

The grant also includes funding for capacity building, in the form of train-the-trainer education in the three regions. “Our trainers will continue to disseminate this information to their communities after we’re gone,” White said. “What’s exciting about that is that it will continue to have impact for years to come as more entrepreneurs get this training, which will only serve to strengthen the ecosystem.”

Learn more about GaMEP’s commitment to food manufacturing companies in minority and underserved communities in this video.

About the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP)
The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech is a program of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, whose purpose is to help manufacturers improve their performance in the global market. GaMEP offers coaching and training in operational excellence, technology implementation, leadership and strategy, marketing, energy management, and sustainability, to manufacturers across the state to help increase top-line growth, reduce bottom-line costs, and boost the economic well-being of Georgia. GaMEP is part of the MEP National Network, a unique public-private partnership that delivers comprehensive, proven solutions to U.S. manufacturers, fueling growth and advancing U.S. manufacturing. To learn more, visit gamep.org.

About the Georgia MBDA Business Center
As part of a national network of 64 centers and special projects funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the Georgia MBDA Business Center helps minority business enterprises (MBEs) obtain capital, access markets and business opportunities domestically and globally, increase profitability, and scale operations. By providing technical assistance, coaching, education, and contacts, the center has helped MBEs create more than 7,000 jobs, and achieve nearly $6.4 billion in contracts and finance, while remaining competitive economic engines in their respective markets. To learn more, visit georgiambdabusinesscenter.org.

About the Enterprise Innovation Institute
The Enterprise Innovation Institute, the Georgia Institute of Technology’s economic development unit, serves all of Georgia through a variety of services and programs that build and scale startups, grow business enterprises, and energize ecosystem builders. As the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based economic development organization, the Institute’s expertise and reach are global; its innovation, entrepreneurship, and ecosystem development programs serve governments, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations worldwide. In 2021, the Enterprise Innovation Institute served more than 15,500 businesses, communities, and entrepreneurs. Those clients reported startup investment capital exceeding $1.1 billion and creating or saving more than 11,300 jobs. The Enterprise Innovation Institute’s total 2021 financial impact exceeded $2.9 billion. Learn more at innovate.gatech.edu.

Enter the State of Innovation

The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation continues to accelerate shared economic success across Georgia

Two years ago, the state of Georgia and a coalition of private and civic partners launched a revolutionary organization to catalyze innovation, opportunity, and shared economic success throughout the state, with the goal of making Georgia the tech capital of the East Coast and a model of inclusive innovation. That public-private organization, the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (Partnership), has succeeded beyond the founders’ imaginings.

In just two years, the Partnership has delivered technology – and more – to both rural and urban communities. Working with local governments, corporations, universities, startups, and nonprofits, the Partnership has invested in more than 30 projects in 90 Georgia legislative districts that have created new businesses and jobs, increased access to financial and social capital, deployed more than 170 technologies, and engaged students in more than 25,000 hours devoted to civic projects.

Debra Lam, executive director of the Partnership

The Partnership’s unique model combines the grantmaking strengths of a foundation with hands-on operations and infrastructure. This allows the Partnership to focus on long-term investments in geographically distributed, nontraditional, underserved, and emerging areas to expand economic access to Georgians of all backgrounds.

“The Partnership believes in the broadest definition of inclusive innovation,” said founding Executive Director Debra Lam. “We work to increase access and expand geographic, racial, gender, and socio-economic equity, and opportunity for all to create innovative ways to drive economic and community growth.”

The Partnership has invested $1.3 million in projects around the state that create and sustain economic success. These projects have provided a match of $1.7 million and secured an additional $6.2 million to support their growth.

In the last year, the Partnership has driven success through its four pillars:

Economic Opportunity

This pillar looks to scale proven programs, services, and technologies and nurture communities of practice for knowledge sharing and collaboration. One such project was the Conservation Fund’s Working Farms Fund (WFF). WFF, the first of its kind in the U.S., helps shield farmland in perpetuity from sprawl. Last year, the fund purchased seven farms, securing 674 acres of land for 31 farmers, 85% of whom are from underserved communities or are women. This coming year, the fund will secure six more farms and at least 500 acres for a dozen farmers. In addition, the fund will launch a companion program in Illinois and is in discussions with Texas and North Carolina about programs in those states

Student Engagement

This pillar aims to develop the next generation of leaders across the state in public service, innovation, and technology. The flagship program is the Smart Community Corps (SCC), a summer internship that in 2022 placed 33 paid interns, representing 11 Georgia universities and 17+ academic disciplines, working in pairs on 16 projects in communities including Woodstock, Atlanta, Albany, Spalding County, and beyond. SCC projects included The Ray, which is working to transform a portion of I-85 into a global model for sustainable transportation, and the Georgia Entrepreneurship Project, which is mapping entrepreneurship and innovation across the state with the goal of expanding prosperity more equitably.

Community Research

The oldest pillar, community research, starts with the needs and priorities of the community and pairs that with multidisciplinary, applied research that is advanced with community implementation and feedback. This approach offers the community access to innovative tools and research. The Georgia Smart Communities Challenge is an award-winning program that empowers communities to meet their goals of a smart and connected future. This program has served 20 communities across the state, including Savannah and Valdosta, where projects have helped ameliorate blighted property and save critical time at intersections, allowing first responders to get to emergencies more quickly.

Workforce Development

The newest pillar, workforce development, invests in human capital to foster meaningful careers, create systems of economic mobility, build talent pipelines for Georgia employers, and boost connectivity. The flagship program is the Workforce for Tomorrow Fellowship (WFT), a first-of-its-kind program where participants are immersed in six-month rotations in the public and private sectors in key growth sectors, such as sustainability and infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and logistics.

With increased funding from the state and corporate partners, the Partnership anticipates significant growth of all programs over the next year. The plan is to fund at least $2.8 million in projects, double the number of students who participate in the SCC, and provide more applied, multidisciplinary research around Georgia.

“I’m honored to be part of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation and to help define Georgia as a national leader in technology research, development, and implementation,” said Reed Dulany, a Partnership advisory board member and president and CEO of Dulany Industries. “I look forward to seeing the long-term impact that the Partnership will make across Georgia in the future.”

About the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation:

Launched in 2020, the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation is a public-private organization that was created to lead coordinated, statewide efforts to position Georgia as the leader for innovation, opportunity, and shared economic success. The Partnership’s focus pillars of community research, workforce development, student engagement, and economic opportunity are a powerful combination that provide technical and financial support to democratize innovation through collaboration. Since 2020, the Partnership’s work has catalyzed 30+ projects with local governments, universities, startups and nonprofits. The projects have created new businesses, increased access to financial and social capital, and deployed more than 170 technologies. More information is available at pingeorgia.org.

Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech Launches Center for MedTech Excellence

Center to provide expertise in concept-to-commercialization of medical device technologies that can compete globally and improve the human condition

ATLANTA — The Center for MedTech Excellence, created to support and address the unique needs of early-stage medical device technologies, launched today with its first cohort of early-stage biotech companies.

Housed in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and funded by a federal grant, the Center will provide expertise in product realization, technology, medical device manufacturing, biotechnology, life science, and therapeutic innovations to early-stage entrepreneurs.

It is a collaborative effort of two Enterprise Innovation Institute programs — the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) — and the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a Georgia Tech affiliate.

Nakia Melecio, founding director of the Center for MedTech Excellence

“I’ve spent a lot of time in the life science, medical device, therapeutic space, and what I saw was great programming,” said the Center’s Founding Director Nakia Melecio. “But there wasn’t any programming focused on taking companies from idea all the way to commercialization and including everything in between. There are a lot of accelerators and incubators, but none are focused, like we are, solely on developing, growing, and building life science companies.”

With its home in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, it was natural to partner with ATDC, GaMEP, and GCMI, says Melecio. “Georgia MEP, with its focus on manufacturing, can help companies navigate manufacturing strategy. GCMI’s expertise in the medical technology industry can help on the clinical side. While ATDC will be home to ScaleUp Lab, MedTech’s incubator.”

Georgia boasts a robust and growing medical technology and health ecosystem with metro Atlanta being a national leader in health information technology, vaccine research, clinical trials, and medical device development.

The state is also home to the CDC, the American Cancer Society, the Morehouse School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, and the Medical College of Georgia.

The Center, joining that network of resources, will support the sector’s continued expansion and job growth in the state, Melecio said.

“The MedTech Center supports and empowers innovators across a broad life-sciences and healthcare range to produce and accelerate the delivery of life-saving health and wellness solutions to people worldwide.”

The Center’s mission, he noted, is aligned with Georgia Tech’s goal to “develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.”

Supported by a $3 million Economic Development Administration Build to Scale grant, the Center will provide services at no cost to clients, who must be developing medical devices for human or animal use. They must be located in Georgia and intending to grow their employment in the state.

During the 16-week program, the Center will provide services to the cohort companies, including coaching/mentoring, capital raising, financial literacy, networking, site selection, cybersecurity, production scaling, product design, and development processes. There are 17 companies in the inaugural cohort.

The Center also includes Scaleup Lab, an incubator for developing and startup companies to catalyze growth and enhance research and development by introducing companies to industry leaders, delivering entrepreneurial programs, and providing a capital-efficient, flexible stage to convert today’s scientific discoveries into tomorrow’s breakthrough healthcare solutions. The accelerator classes will include eight to 12 companies that have been recruited, qualified, and advised by the Center’s expert network.

A second program, MedTech Center Health Innovation Hub: Life Science MedTech, is designed for science and healthcare companies seeking growth funding and connections to experts and strategic partners for product development and expansion. Through this program, select Scaleup Lab companies are matched with a personal team tasked with advising on the company’s next growth stage. The year-long, virtual program features presentations from advisors and investors on topics such as biotechnology, healthcare, and hospital systems; medical devices and diagnostics; therapeutics; pharmaceuticals; rare diseases; and consumer healthcare.

“I see the MedTech Center as a support and addition to the current life sciences and entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Melecio said. “It’s a place for businesses to get everything from customized program content to grant and investor support, all geared specifically toward life science companies.”

About ATDC

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly, which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

About the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) is a program of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, whose purpose is to enhance global competitiveness for Georgia manufacturers. Each year, GaMEP offers coaching and training to more than 700 manufacturers across the state to help increase top-line growth, reduce bottom-line costs, and boost the economic well-being of Georgia. To learn more, visit gamep.org.

About Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI)

GCMI’s mission is to bring new medical technologies to market that improve quality-based outcomes and delivery of care for patients worldwide. To learn more, visit gcmiatl.com.

For media inquiries, contact Péralte C. Paul, 404.316.1210, peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu

For information about the Center for MedTech Excellence, contact Nakia Melecio, 678.478.2422, nakia.melecio@innovate.gatech.edu

Economic Development Administration Awards Georgia Tech $65 Million for AI Manufacturing Project

Largest grant ever awarded to a Georgia Tech-led coalition of partners to drive Build Back Better initiatives

ATLANTA — The Georgia Institute of Technology has been awarded a $65 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support a statewide initiative that combines artificial intelligence and manufacturing innovations with transformational workforce and outreach programs. The grant will increase job and wage opportunities in distressed and rural communities, as well as among historically underrepresented and underserved groups.

The Georgia Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing Technology Corridor (GA-AIM) effort is one of 21 winning projects the White House announced today under the Biden administration’s $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. The award follows a $500,000 Phase 1 feasibility grant the project received in 2021.

“Georgia Tech is honored to lead this vision of collaborative innovation and economic development across all regions of our state,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. “This award underscores the Institute’s commitment to leverage our resources and expertise to address great challenges, serve our state and nation, and amplify our impact on the world.”

The selected awardees represent projects in 24 states with grant amounts ranging from $25 million to $65 million.

“As we invest and grow critical industries in the U.S., we want to create industry hubs in diverse communities across the country,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “These grants will provide critical and historic funding directly to community coalitions to invest in new infrastructure, research and development, and workforce development programs while creating good-paying jobs, supporting workers, and prioritizing equity.”

Members of the Georgia AIM team (from left) Georgia White, David Bridges, Donna Ennis, Burunda Prince, and Aaron Stebner listen as President Joe Biden discusses the funding award to Georgia Tech and its partners. (PHOTO: Peralte C. Paul)

The GA-AIM project is led by Aaron Stebner, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering; Donna Ennis, director of Diversity Engagement and Program Development in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and also director of its Georgia MBDA Business Center; and Thomas R. Kurfess, executive director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute.

“The ability to integrate our discoveries and innovations here at the AI Manufacturing Pilot Facility with novel workforce programs and transformative outreach experiences is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something greater in ways that increase opportunity and prosperity for all Georgians,” Stebner said. “Through an equitable AI manufacturing innovation focus, the assembled coalition of partners and stakeholders across the state will build a more prosperous and resilient Georgia and set a nation-leading example.”

The AI Manufacturing Pilot Facility, which will allow for government and industry pilot trials, cybersecurity games, and workforce training for AI manufacturing technologies, is just one component of Georgia Tech’s support for the project.

Two of Georgia Tech’s commercialization programs — VentureLab and I-Corps South — will create a center for the commercialization of AI manufacturing technologies into local and regional startups through training built on the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps curriculum.

The Enterprise Innovation Institute, Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, will engage in focused outreach and technical assistance to small- and mid-sized manufacturers and minority business enterprises through its Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) and Georgia MBDA Business Center programs. Other Enterprise Innovation Institute programs include the Economic Development Lab, the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, and ATDC, which will focus on outreach and engagement in distressed and underserved parts of the state, create workforce development programs, implementation strategies, and attract outside investment.

“The work that we will accomplish with our broad spectrum of partners in this new endeavor will leverage the latest technology in artificial intelligence to grow and strengthen our workforce ensuring that the growing manufacturing sector in Georgia has the skilled workforce that it requires for today’s as well as tomorrow’s needs,” Kurfess said. “At the same the high paying and secure jobs will be going to a very diverse population base from across the state, providing an equitable robust future for all citizens of Georgia.”

Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain & Logistics Institute will study the impact of automation technologies, build automation solutions tailored for rural manufacturers, and create programs that lower the barrier for rural manufacturers’ access to use the AI Manufacturing Pilot Facility.

Finally, Georgia Tech’s K-12 InVenture Prize and Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing programs will expand their emphasis to rural and underserved areas of the state by piloting a rural regional event with a region-specific prize. They will also create supplemental lessons centered on AI and data science that will be part of a K-12 InVenture Prize curriculum website.

“We are excited to be a part of this collaborative effort to catalyze research and innovation in AI and manufacturing across the state of Georgia,” said Chaouki T. Abdallah, executive vice president for Research at Georgia Tech. “This project aligns with our goals to expand economic opportunity in our state’s underserved communities, and to serve as a collaborative hub for interdisciplinary research that advances technology and improves people’s lives.”

Georgia Tech is working with a coalition of statewide partners to create a foundation that supports existing business growth and new business ventures across the state especially in underserved communities and rural Georgia.

“All across the state of Georgia, our programs in the Enterprise Innovation Institute work hard to unlock potential and foster economic opportunity for all, particularly in underserved and marginalized communities,” said David Bridges, vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, and co-author of the grant proposal with Stebner. “This project leverages what we and our partners each do best to help achieve our broader Georgia AIM goals.”

Tech’s partners include the:

“What’s really special about this effort is that it’s centered on a wholistic approach with innovation, not just one piece of AI or manufacturing,” Ennis said. “We’re working collectively statewide to transform and propel forward our industry, communities, and most importantly, our people.”

That collective approach is critical to GA-AIM’s success, said Houston County Development Authority Executive Director Angie Gheesling.

“The Development Authority and the 21^st Century Partnership lead the Middle Georgia Innovation Project, which includes 11 counties in the Middle Georgia region, a diverse landscape of communities from rural to urban,” she said. “This award further facilitates the continuation of several years of collaboration between local leadership, our universities, private industry, and Robins Air Force Base to position ourselves as a Software Center of Excellence. We are grateful to Georgia Tech for the opportunity to partner and contribute to the overall future success of GA-AIM.”

Burunda Prince, chief operating officer of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, echoed those sentiments, saying its reach is exponentially amplified through the GA-AIM partnership.

The Center will create a mobile, 5,000-square-foot LaunchPad AI Innovation Studio to provide prototyping and proof-of-concept development of physical products. Black entrepreneurs in rural and urban Georgia will have access to equipment, training, and mentoring, and LaunchPad AI will also be open to AI InVenture teams from Atlanta’s urban K-12 schools.

“As part of the Build Back Better grant, the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs will help Black businesses leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence to provide better data and insights that will build stronger companies and drive greater wealth generation,” Prince said. “What makes this opportunity unique is the cross collaboration of partners which will engage and empower communities across Georgia through access to technologies that often are inaccessible.”

Equally as important is the education component and the ability for it to be a bridge to new skills and opportunities for Georgia workers, said Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Greg Dozier.

“The funding for the project will equip four TCSG colleges with state-of-the-art manufacturing studios that will showcase the clean, safe state of modern manufacturing,” Dozier said. “Automation in manufacturing creates a demand for more skilled jobs, giving TCSG the charge to strengthen the workforce pipeline by training Georgians in these exciting, new technologies. The Georgia AIM project provides the funding to meet these opportunities head on.”

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.

About the Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.

Enterprise Innovation Institute VP Receives ‘World Best Leader’ Award from International Research Conference

David Bridges Awards — Angela Lee (left), a student at Lambert High School in Suwanee, and Georgia Tech student Sujin Cho (right) present David Bridges, Enterprise Innovation Institute vice president with the World Best Leader Award. (PHOTO: Peralte C. Paul)

David Bridges, vice president of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, was a featured speaker at the International Conference and Awards for the Earth Environment in South Korea.

The conference, held earlier this summer at the National Assembly Proceeding Hall, in Seoul, featured seminars and breakout sessions regarding policies focused on environmental protection on a global scale.

Bridges, who received the World Best Leader Award, discussed resilience and recovery in supply chain, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing trends and best practices for small and medium-sized businesses and startups.

In addition to Bridges’ award, a team of Georgia high school and university students, including Georgia Tech, were given the 2022 Top Class Representative Person Award for their efforts in leading environmental campaigns.

The conference aims to share economic, environmental, technological, and social startup innovations to encourage the sustainable development of ideas and technologies, ultimately supporting United Nation’s sustainable development goals.

The Defense Innovation Unit Roadshow Comes to ATDC

DIU looks at ways tech entrepreneurs can
do business with the Department of Defense

Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists discovered ways to do business with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) when the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) presented at the Atlanta Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state’s internationally recognized technology business incubator, Monday.

The DIU is a DoD-funded matchmaker of sorts, working to connect various DoD partners with commercial companies to solve specific problems for the military. The two events, one for entrepreneurs and one for venture capitalists, offered the opportunity for Georgians to learn more about the technology focus areas of the DIU, the acquisition processes, and ways to engage with them. The DIU’s single goal is getting essential technology into the DoD to strengthen the national security innovation base.

Mike Madsen, the DIU’s director of strategic engagement, presents at ATDC.

“It’s no secret that dual use technology — technology with commercial and government applications — is going to be increasingly important going forward,” said Mike Madsen, the DIU’s director of strategic engagement. “If you look at what some of our would-be adversaries are doing, they are making their commercially developed technology immediately available to their militaries. We have to get folks to want to work with us. And let’s face it, we make this as hard as possible.”

Streamlining the process for bringing new commercial tech companies into the DoD fold was the idea behind the creation of the DIU seven years ago.

“Everything starts with a DoD problem set,” Madsen said. That’s a specific problem that the DoD thinks can be solved through a commercial application. The solution may be something that’s already commercially available or it may be a commercial product that would need to be customized to suit the military.

The DIU works with DoD to state the problem simply, in non-military terms. “We get rid of the Pentagon jargon, get rid of the acronyms, make it easily understood by the commercial sector,” Madsen said. “And then our commercial engagement team is engaged in the commercial sector to make sure that there’s a commercial solution for what DoD is trying to solve … then we can prototype and go from there.”

The problems that DoD is looking to solve, along with information about submitting a possible solution, are spelled out — in non-jargon — on the DIU website.

The DIU’s six technology areas of focus — and the areas tech firms might find a fit — are artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber, energy, human systems, and space.

The hybrid event (virtual and in person) drew about 65 people, who were very engaged, with questions both during and following the presentations. The roadshow, which will be repeated throughout the country, is designed to expand the DIU’s already broad reach. The organization has 98 ongoing projects and 51 completed projects, with 105 first-time DoD vendors. The unit also has some serious money to support prototyping of potential commercial applications.

“We are modestly budgeted at about $100 million,” Madsen said. “But we leverage about $1 billion of our DoD partner funding to the prototyping phase, as well as about $20 billion in venture capital funding.”

Nakia Melecio, ATDC’s senior startup and deep tech catalyst, facilitated the event and summed up the importance of the visit.

“More and more government, academia, and commercial firms are working together [to solve problems,]” he said. “So, this relationship [with DIU] is very important.”

He also reminded attendees, many of whom were new to ATDC, that the organization is available to help.

“If you’re not plugged into ATDC, make sure you get plugged in to ATDC,” he said. “We have our staff here that’s equipped to help you. We’re also here as coaches to provide support to all of you. And we’ll work very closely with the DIU to help you unpack a lot of things you heard today.”

In Georgia, 41 solution submissions have been made to the DIU website, with one prototype contract awarded to a Georgia company, including $87,500 in funding. But the DIU wants to see that grow. This event is a first step in making that happen.

Georgia College Students Present Project Outcomes in 4th Smart Community Corps Closing Session

Students from 11 Georgia universities worked together to tackle civic innovation projects across Georgia over the summer period

Students from the 4th cohort of the Smart Community Corps along with the Partnership team

The fourth cohort of Smart Community Corps (SCC), one of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation’s flagship programs under the Student Engagement pillar, wrapped up in August with presentations at Microsoft’s Atlantic Yards from student interns about their summer projects. The SCC is designed to provide civic-minded graduate and undergraduate college students from around the state hands-on experience working with communities in Georgia on projects to improve the lives of residents. And these students delivered, with projects that range from improving the flow of traffic to getting food from farm to table in underserved communities.

“There is no better way to learn about civic tech and public innovation than actively working with community partners on projects that make a difference,” said Partnership Director Debra Lam. “Our ambition was grand and these students showed us that it could be done and done well together.”

Launched in 2020, the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation is a public-private organization that was created to lead coordinated, statewide efforts to position Georgia as the leader for innovation, opportunity, and shared economic success. In addition to student engagement, the Partnership’s focus pillars also include community research, workforce development, and economic opportunity. The Partnership’s mission is supported by a number of private and public institutions, including Georgia Power, Synovus, the University of Georgia, Flowers Foods, and Georgia Tech.

This year’s program launched in May with 33 interns competitively selected from 140 applicants. They represent 11 Georgia universities and 17 academic disciplines. The students spent the summer working on 16 projects across the state. In addition to the civic innovation work, what makes Smart Community Corps unique is its pair model. SCC interns work primarily in pairs on projects, bringing complementary backgrounds, skills and expertise together to learn from each other as they collaborate on the projects.

Student projects have a real impact around the state. For instance, in studying traffic patterns in Valdosta, students found that drivers were speeding most often during the times when cars and students were going to and from the middle school, making for not just frustrating drop offs and pickups, but also dangerous ones. In Spalding County, student work will mean greater access to wireless broadband in underserved parts of the county.

“We hear a lot of positive feedback from legislators and from economic developers around the state,” said G.P. “Bud” Peterson, the Partnership’s board chair, and President Emeritus and Regents Professor at Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.

This summer was the first time since 2019 that the interns worked in person rather than virtually. An $8,000 stipend funded by contributions from Microsoft and Gulfstream helped cover interns’ expenses for the 12-week program.

Olasumbo Ogunsola, a student at Georgia State University, worked on a project with the Savannah Logistics Innovation Center (SLIC) to help connect tech businesses with government, academic, and private partners.

“It has been an amazing opportunity,” Ogunsola said. “I’ve really learned a lot from my executive director with SLIC, have learned a lot about logistics management and about new companies that are starting up in Georgia and are trying to expand. It has really changed my life. My project partner, Mark Schwabacher, a Georgia Tech student, was offered a position by the executive director of SLIC. I was also able to get something with a healthcare company. This has really opened a lot of opportunities.”

While most of the students worked in one community, Nikhil Upadhaya, a student who’s been at

Nikhil Upadhaya, a student who’s been at Georgia State and will transfer to University of Georgia this fall, was part of a statewide project to map innovation and entrepreneurship

Georgia State and will transfer to University of Georgia this fall, was part of a statewide project to map innovation and entrepreneurship. “I think what drew me to the project was that I had never heard of anybody researching entrepreneurship within Georgia. And personally, I learned a lot about data analytics, and how to analyze the data and look through it all to push research further into whatever somebody might need the data for.”

Paige Clayton, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of City and Regional Planning, oversaw the project. She was so impressed with Upadhaya that she hired him for the fall to continue his work. “The work he did was definitely beneficial to my work and that will hopefully benefit Georgia,” she said.

And that’s the goal of the program — for students to put the knowledge and skills they’ve learned in the classroom to work in Georgia to help create more sustainable, innovative, and technologically advanced communities.

“A lot of Georgia students tend to leave the state after graduation,” said Clarence Anthony Jr., the Partnership’s workforce development manager. “The SCC engages some of our next wave of leaders within higher education to work with senior leaders throughout the state, building a nice bridge and partnership, but also showing students they have opportunities to stay here, to do meaningful work if they want to.”

Partnership for Inclusive Innovation Announces 2022 Smart Communities

Four Georgia communities receive support for projects that leverage applied research, technology and data to advance innovation in smart resilience

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, a public-private organization designed to position Georgia as the leader for innovation, opportunity and shared economic success, today announced the winners of the 2022 Georgia Smart Communities Challenge, at Central Georgia Technical College in Warner Robins.

Representatives from the 2022 Georgia Smart Communities Challenge cohort (Photo: Matt Hummel)

The award-winning Georgia Smart Communities Challenge supports teams of applied researchers, municipalities and nonprofit groups to work together over the course of the year on locally driven priorities ranging from installing sea level sensors for hurricane resilience to building digital twins for public safety and transportation.

The 2022 theme, Smart Resilience, sought projects that address topics including disaster response, energy efficiency and public safety.

“This year, we add four communities from across Georgia, spanning three economic development districts and including multi-disciplinary researchers from Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Middle Georgia State University, Clayton State University and Augusta University,” said Stephanie Broxton, the Partnership’s community research manager.

“The selected communities submitted strong multi-disciplinary, multi-university research project proposals that aim to advance innovation by leveraging technology and data. Communities from throughout Georgia were selected to ensure impact across the state.”

Each of the projects will receive financial and technical assistance to support and continue the work of implementing applied research from university partners, as well as assistance from the Partnership for monthly meetings, community engagement and promotion of project outcomes.

Georgia Tech is a proud member of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation,” Ángel Cabrera, president of Georgia Tech, said. “We’re truly committed to creating opportunities for all Georgians to drive innovation and to make Georgia the Tech Capital of the East Coast.

Cabrera congratulated the Georgia Smart winners and added, “This work is sure to create lasting transformative change, not just for the winning communities, but also for their neighbors and everyone who benefits from this research in the future.”

The 2022 cohort communities and projects are:

City of Atlanta: The project will use innovative diagnostic techniques to perform energy audits in Atlanta’s Thomasville Heights community, with the goal of achieving significant cost savings compared to traditional building energy auditing practices. The audits are done with minimally invasive drones equipped with remote sensing instruments to analyze building exteriors. The method holds promise for overcoming homeowner hesitancy about weatherization programs and can be replicated in distressed neighborhoods throughout the city. The project is especially timely in the Thomasville Heights community, where ongoing challenges such as acute unemployment and poverty will soon be compounded by the closure of long-neglected subsidized housing. Researchers from Georgia Tech and Morehouse School of Medicine, and representatives from Focused Community Strategies will work with the city of Atlanta on this project.

“We are currently supporting neighborhood stabilization in Thomasville Heights,” said Dr. Latrice Rollins, assistant professor for community health and preventive medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine. This project will allow “us to use utility rebates and bulk purchasing as solutions for poverty amelioration and will reduce the cost of energy.”

Atlanta Project Team:

Pamela Stringfield, Focused Community Strategies
Chanel Zeisel, City of Atlanta
Dr. Julie Kim, Georgia Tech
Dr. Tarek Rakha, Georgia Tech
Dr. Danielle Willkens, Georgia Tech
Dr. Latrice Rollins, Morehouse School of Medicine

Athens-Clarke County: The Climate Resilience Project through Technology and Transportation Innovation will evaluate and improve community preparedness in response to the growing severity of environmental disaster and the region’s increasing population. The project will include the development and deployment of a survey to gauge existing disaster preparedness and resident interest in improving preparedness in their communities. Leaders will engage with the community to create an all-hazards mitigation plan, neighborhood disaster playbook template and strengthened neighborhood-level resource and relationship network. The goal is to minimize risk and work toward providing equitable outcomes for all members of the community in the event of a catastrophic disaster. Researchers from the University of Georgia, Augusta University and Kennesaw State University will work with Athens-Clarke County on this project.

“Athens-Clarke County is dedicated to building a culture of readiness and resiliency for all of our residents,” said Mayor Kelly Girtz. “Through this partnership, I believe we will make Athens-Clarke County a safer, strong and adaptable place to live.”

Athens-Clarke County project team:

Joseph D’Angelo, Athens-Clarke County
Dr. Allan Tate, University of Georgia
Dr. Jennifer Gay, University of Georgia
Dr. Michelle Ritchie, University of Georgia
Dr. Laurel Murrow, Augusta University
Dr. Jun Tu, Kennesaw State University

The Henry County Smart Resilience Decision Support Tool (DST) will be an interactive web-based tool to assist county planners, policymakers and county officials as they assess and explore the impact and potential of new greenspace, warehousing and freight-related infrastructure projects. The tool will help county officials answer the question: How can Henry County reconcile community economic development objectives with quality of life and energy resilience concerns? Researchers from Georgia Tech and Clayton State University will work with Henry County on this project.

“We are so excited and honored that Henry County has been chosen to receive the Georgia Smart Award,” said Carlotta Harrell, chair of the Henry County Board of Commissioners. “We continue to look for ways to improve and enhance transportation for Henry County residents and this continued partnership with Georgia Smart allows us to do just that.”

Henry County project team:

City of Warner Robins: The project will develop and test a Citizen Safety Digital Twin for Community Resilience through the integration of a dynamic license plate reader solution with police department investigation practices. The project team will build on previous work to refine an interface that enables the police department to see where crimes are predicted to occur and suggest placement of license plate readers to detect them. The team will engage with the community and key stakeholders to collect and analyze feedback about the system. This project will help Warner Robins to maximize both deterrence and detection, with the aim of lowering crime rates across the city. Researchers from Georgia Tech and Middle Georgia State University will work with the city of Warner Robins on this project.

“Police departments are under-resourced and understaffed around the nation,” Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick said. “The use of technology has been a force multiplier to reduce crime. This grant will give Chief [John] Wagner and the entire police department team the tools they need to provide public safety for our city. This is proactive crime prevention.”

Warner Robins project team:

The Georgia Smart Communities Challenge has a strong track record of success. Alumni have implemented their projects and garnered additional funding and technical assistance to continue projects beyond the two-year program period, allowing them to continue serving their residents and meeting community goals.

“As an initial Georgia Smart partner and long-time supporter of the Partnership, Georgia Power is proud to support innovation across the state through this announcement of a new cohort of Georgia Smart communities,” Chris Womack, chair, president and CEO of Georgia Power, said at the event. “This cohort of Georgia Smart community projects is unique because it is inclusive, it supports multi-disciplinary and multi-university projects, and it fosters collaboration, with all communities working toward smart resilience initiatives.”

About the Georgia Smart Communities Challenge (GA Smart) program:

When municipalities experience 21st century challenges that require strategic planning, Georgia Smart is an award-winning program that assists leaders in identifying solutions that are researched, tested and evaluated by subject-matter experts. Often referred to as simply “Georgia Smart” this community research assistance program empowers communities on their journey to innovation by helping them to envision a smart and connected future. This program has served 20 communities across the state of Georgia, helping to activate over 140 technologies and facilitate over 30 community engagement meetings. Alumni of the program have gone on to experience wide-ranging success, including recognition on a national and international scale.

About the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation:

You asked. We listened.

GaMEP now offering marketing services to manufacturing clients

Katie Takacs, GaMEP group manager for marketing

From automobiles and their components to food production, technology, and floor covering, manufacturing is a huge sector in Georgia. In fact, manufacturing represents 10 percent of state gross domestic product (totaling nearly $62 billion in 2019), according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Center of Innovation for Manufacturing. The industry accounts for 92 percent of exports and employs more than 380,000 people across the state.

The sector’s importance is no accident. It’s the result of Georgia’s pro-business climate, a well-trained workforce, and a location and logistics network that allows companies to reach 80 percent of the United States in hours by truck, train, or plane, and access the world via the ports.

Given the huge economic impact manufacturing has on Georgia, it might seem that marketing isn’t essential for manufacturing firms in the state. They just need to sit back and let the dollars flow to them. But that’s not the case. According to the biannual Georgia Manufacturing Survey, over the past 12 years manufacturers have continuously identified marketing as one of their top needs.

That’s where the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech comes in. The GaMEP, a program of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, has been in operation since 1960, with the singular goal of enhancing global competitiveness for Georgia manufacturers. Now, GaMEP has added marketing services to its tool kit, which has long included services such as leadership development, technology adaptation, quality systems, energy, sustainability, and implementation of lean tools to improve processes across the plant.

“What we’ve found is that many small to mid-size manufacturers either don’t have an internal marketing team, have one person supporting marketing, or the company is project managing multiple agencies,” said Katie Takacs, GaMEP group manager for marketing. “GaMEP has a robust internal marketing team and great partners we’ve worked with over the years, so we knew it was time to begin support manufacturers in this area and helping them meet their growth goals.”

The marketing services GaMEP offers include everything from strategic plan development through tactical execution, as well as improving a company’s digital presence.

Oneda Corp., a Columbus, Georgia-based precision metal stamping manufacturer primarily for the automotive and heating and air industries, worked with Takacs to develop and implement a strategic marketing plan for the company. The project grew to include writing customer success stories, launching a new website with improved usability and content, planning, and creating LinkedIn content, and training Michael Brooks, Oneda’s manager of marketing, customer service, and logistics, to manage the company’s social media.

Brooks, an engineer, recognized the importance of a strong, relevant social media presence, and knew he needed help to create it. “If you’re not on social media, and you’re not keeping up with that, you will lose your audience,” he said. “The audience now is younger and more savvy. They turn to your website and look at your social postings to determine if the content meets what they are looking for. Then they determine if they sense a business relationship before they even contact you.”

Learn more about the work GaMEP does with manufacturers around the state and the ways GaMEP can help manufacturers strengthen relationships with their customers at gamep.org.

For more information about GaMEP’s marketing services for Georgia manufacturers, contact: Katie Takacs at katie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu.

Engage Celebrates Ninth Cohort of High-growth Startups

Reps from cohort nine companies: From left, Ian Bresnahan, co-founder and CEO at Itential; Dan Johnston, co-founder and CEO at WorkStep; Emil Davityan, founder and CEO at Bluedot; Christine Tao, co-founder and CEO at Sounding Board; Kristen Sonday, co-founder and CEO at Paladin; Van West, co-founder and CEO at Vocalytics AI; Michael Scharff, co-founder and CEO at Evolv AI; and Brandon Card, co-founder and CEO at Terzo

Engage, the Enterprise Innovation Institute program that connects high-growth startups with Fortune 500 decision-makers, recently celebrated its ninth cohort at the 2022 Spring Executive Reception.

The Engage idea started in 2015 “with a conversation with some of the city’s leading CEOs,” said Blake Patton, managing partner of Engage and Tech Square Ventures. “They were talking about the need to drive innovation in their companies and the desire to bring additional capital to the region.”

Since that discussion, 67 startups — 33% of them from Atlanta — have been through the Engage program. They have created over 2,000 jobs and raised $1.7 billion.

More than 180 people attended the reception hosted at Honeywell’s Innovation Center that featured the founders of the cohort companies, as well as discussions by program alumni, and a keynote address from Georgia Power Chairman and CEO and Engage board member Chris Womack.

Keith Townsend, a partner at King & Spalding, spoke about how the city of Atlanta is the perfect place for a program like Engage. “We’re in a great city that has a diverse, talented, and skilled population. It has one of the densest populations of Fortune 500 companies in the country, with a vibrant art, music, and now movie production scene. You roll that together, and it gives companies, large and small, a very talented workforce to draw from, which I think is just terrific.”

The evening featured a fireside chat with Allison Robinson, co-founder and CEO of Engage portfolio company The Mom Project, and Kellie Schönberg, Invesco’s global head of corporate social responsibility. They discussed Robinson’s experience in the first Engage cohort in 2017. The Mom Project — Allison herself is the mother of three — is a platform for connecting moms, dads, and allies with companies that value the work-life flexibility parents need and want to tap into this often overlooked and deep talent pool.

Robinson’s background at Proctor & Gamble — working on the Pampers brand, where she was immersed in all things mom — and then becoming a mom herself made her realize “there’s a huge need in the marketplace to help create these opportunities for moms,” she said. “There’s so much dormant strength in the economy that could be captured if we could help meet her on her terms.” This was the birth, so to speak, of The Mom Project.

Since its founding, The Mom Project’s platform has unlocked over $300 million in earning potential by connecting our more than 1 million moms, dads, and allies with opportunities at more than 3,000 companies, including Invesco, Georgia-Pacific, Nike, and Apple.

Following the pandemic with its especially huge impact on women of color, The Mom Project launched RISE, a scholarship program committed to accelerating equity for moms of color. RISE provides access to upskill certifications while harnessing the power of community, support, and job placement — all in as little as three months and at no cost to participants.

Go Far Together

The program continued with a chat about sustainability, a topic growing in importance for large corporations and startups. Lisa Carlson, Engage’s corporate director, moderated the discussion with Kim Cobb, Georgia Tech’s Georgia Power chair, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and director of the Global Change Program and Doug Wright, president and CEO of Honeywell Building Technologies.

The purpose of the discussion, Carlson said, was “to get two dynamic leaders, one from the world of higher education and one from the business side, to talk through the actions that are going to be required in this new frontier [of sustainability], and what some of the challenges are, and how we can work together in a new collaborative manner to drive some scalable changes around the globe.”

Cobb discussed ways Georgia Tech is working to solve some of the problems of climate change and sustainability as part of Drawdown Georgia, a “research-based roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality in Georgia,” she said. “We just launched the Drawdown Georgia business compact community, which already has 30 members, including some of the Engage partners, who are working together to enhance collaboration, share best practices, accelerate the development of voluntary targets, and make sure that the business community is involved in what may be some nascent policy development in the state.”

Wright talked about the importance of large corporations and smaller businesses working together to help solve problems. “Smaller businesses move faster,” he said. “They can work to solve problems at a higher clock speed. And then as a larger organization, what we can do with that is we can take it to scale. So, maybe there’s some innovation that we identify in a startup around air quality monitoring, but I can take that to tens of thousands of customers overnight, as a large organization. There’s a virtuous circle that I think works together.”

Keynote speaker Chris Womack started by touting the benefits of being part of the Atlanta technology ecosystem. Then talked about the importance of that ecosystem working together to ensure it continues to thrive.

It’s not enough to leave it to legislative leaders to solve the challenges, but individual changemakers and communities and networks that drive innovation should take the lead and do so collaboratively, Womack said.

“There’s an African proverb that says if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. If we want to go far, we go together,” he said. “I think that’s the opportunity that we have, as we invest in this focus on entrepreneurship.”

Connecting to Grow

Womack’s words on entrepreneurship and the importance of working together, reinforced the mission of Engage, which is to promote innovation through a network of connections between startups, corporations, university researchers, and the venture community. It’s these connections to a diverse range of corporate and business leaders that helps accelerate startups in the program.

The value of connection is also echoed by the cohort leaders themselves.

“My favorite part of the Engage experience was meeting with the other founders,” said Kristen Sonday, co-founder and CEO of Paladin. “Oftentimes, you’re going through a lot of different situations that they’ve already been through and being able to share best practices and experiences is really helpful.”

The founders all agreed that meeting with the other companies in the cohort was an important part of the Engage experience. They also valued time spent with corporate partners and learning from them how to navigate relationships with Fortune 500 companies.

“The number one thing that I learned through the Engage program was that there are so many different ways to connect with partners and stakeholders in the corporates that we’re trying to work with,” said Emil Davityan, founder and CEO at Bluedot. “Everybody has their core day to day role and the mission that they’re on as a business. And every business is driven by its own unique culture. So instead of just trying to sell technology, we have to ask how do we situate ourselves and our own company culture in the context of the teams that we’re working with? Are they driven through data, through personalities and relationships? What is the overarching strategy? And for us, learning how to connect with that from the very first conversation and build those relationships was incredibly valuable.”

Engage’s cohort nine companies are:

Bluedot: Its location software helps improve curbside pickup, loyalty, frictionless drive-thrus, and augmented reality gamification.
Evolv AI: Uses machine learning to continuously find better ways to digitally connect enterprises with customers.
Itential: Automation platform that supports both network and cloud infrastructure, helps organizations maintain network compliance, reduce manual operations, and simplify network management.
Paladin: Streamlines legal pro bono programs, helping attorneys reach their professional responsibility goals more easily while decreasing administrative work and costs for Fortune 500s.
Sounding Board: Works with enterprises to develop strong leaders using a solution to manage, scale, and measure coaching.
Terzo: IT/workflow and data hub for vendor processes and contracts that enables enterprises to better manage vendors and transform them into strategic partners.
Vocalytics AI: Software for health, safety, and customer experience listens to ambient noise and sends real-time alerts when needed most.
WorkStep: Helps manufacturing, logistics, and retail companies hire and retain their hourly workforce by matching candidates and driving engagement and retention initiatives.