Hi Joe - There are two major efforts within ACS to address the needs of entrepreneurs. One is a grass-roots effort involving several divisions, committees and external orgaizations called the Chemical Entrepreneurship Council (CEC). Janet Bryant is the Chair of the CEC. They offer workshops, symposia and other resources for entrepreneurs in the chemical sciences.
ACS is also launching two new programs for entrepreneurs as part of an initiaitve to impliment the suggestions from the Innovation Task Force Report.
Entrepreneurial Resources Center
The Entrepreneurial Resources Center (ERC) directly addresses recommendation 1 from the Task Force report. References to resources in the Center have been italicized in the recommendation below.
“ACS should develop a single organizational unit—a kind of ‘technological farmers’ market’—offering affordable (or free) help to entrepreneurs. This unit would support entrepreneurs by facilitating more affordable access to resources that should foster the creation of small companies from startups. Relevant resources might include information, management expertise, key services, and mentors. The unit could also support entrepreneurs in making introductions to much-needed capital and fostering partnerships with large companies.”
These potential italicized resources are described in the Task Force report as:
- Technical information, in particular ACS Publications and CAS SciFinder
- A community of talent, for example, members who are entrepreneurs and skilled, experienced business people
- Administrative support
- IT capabilities
- ACS vendor relationships (legal, accounting, marketing, human resources)
- Industry partners that when leveraged strategically can and will make a major contribution to the entrepreneur’s task of building a business and putting useful, safe, and environmentally sound chemistry-based products into the stream of commerce
- Opening doors to sources of funding with accredited investors and venture capitalists having a specific chemistry-based technology and early-stage investment focus
Entrepreneurial Training Program
The Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) is a partial solution to recommendation 3 from the Task Force report.
“ACS should work with academic institutions and other relevant organizations to promote awareness of career pathways and educational opportunities that involve or include entrepreneurship.”
Admission into both programs will be through a competitive screening process. Applications of the programs can be found at www.acs.org/ei. The deadline for applications to these programs will be March 15th, 2012. For more information please refer to the website. Please note that the website is being built now, so more information will be posted on the site as it becomes available. Inquiries about the Entrepreneurial Resource Center and the Entrepreneurial Training Program can be directed to entrepreneur@acs.org.
