ED-Central


In This Issue


- Internship Programs -- Can they work for your community?




The old saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” And Athens waited several years before the BMC came to fruition. According to Judy Loden, formerly with the Trinity Valley Community College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and now with the Greater East Texas Certified Development Corporation, it was well worth the wait.

Internship Programs -- Can they work for your community?

Rural communities are uniquely poised to take advantage of Internship Programs. High school age students gain not only valuable experience but, just as importantly, the opportunity to proactively participate in the development of their community - earning a modest salary does not hurt either. As an added bonus students get to build their résumés in support of their job or college seeking efforts. "Our experience ussing interns for community development projects has been very valuable, young kids are particularly comfortable with the technology we use in support of our rural customers like GPS systems, Digital Video and Hand Held Computers" comments Jose Quintana with AdventGX, - the following are a few examples of summer internship projects that may be applicable to your community:

- Digital Photography Surveys (mapping of residential and commercial structures)

- Community Cleanup Events

- Wildlife Studies (classification and documentation)

- Traveler Surveys

- Traffic Counts (volumes & profiles)

- Building Renovation

Factors to a successful internship program development (and recruiting):

- Safety First

- Proper Adult Supervision

- Comprehensive and Clear Documentation of Tasks and Riles of Engagement

- Keep Projects Challenging, Fun & Relevant

- Reward Discipline, Creativity, Proficiency

- Promote a Self Learning Culture

- Provide Food When Possible

- Always Provide the Right Tools for the Job

- Start them Young (and keep a good age/gender mix)

The old saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” And Athens waited several years before the BMC came to fruition. According to Judy Loden, formerly with the Trinity Valley Community College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and now with the Greater East Texas Certified Development Corporation, it was well worth the wait.

Athens, Texas was doing well. They had a fairly diversified manufacturing base that was generating good quality, higher paying jobs. Not bad for a historically agricultural community of just over 11,000 in the rolling hills of Northeast Texas.

Part of the success in Athens was based on an initiative to develop Athens as a medical manufacturing technology center. That focus on medical manufacturing was inspired in the early 1990s by staff from Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) who conducted extensive research on ways to leverage existing resources such as Argon Medical Corporation, one of the city’s largest employers. Since that time, Athens was able to achieve several economic development successes toward becoming a medical manufacturing technology center, including the following:

- Creation of a 55-acre medical manufacturing industrial park

- A 100 percent EtO (ethylene oxide) sterilization facility

- Future Matrix Interventional (formerly FutureMed), a medical device manufacturing firm with nearly 300 employees - Grew or recruited other medical device manufacturing firms

But in 2002 and 2003, Judy Loden, director at the Trinity Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC), again called on Gary Sera, Director of Technology and Economic Development (TED) Division at TEEX, to help identify opportunities for Athens.

Gary had been involved in the initial development of medical manufacturing in Athens. Always on hand to talk about opportunities, problems and solutions, he had expressed commitment to Judy’s goal of helping small businesses in Athens. Through marketing and business development assistance, he and his staff provided direction and networking opportunities using a network of Texas A&M University resources. One of the key ideas he presented to Judy was the concept of a medical manufacturing incubator.

That concept was the key to a series of events and activities that followed.

The Athens Economic Development Corporation owned a building previously occupied by Chase Medical; before they moved to another facility, Chase had invested more than a million dollars in improvements. This unique facility together with a well educated workforce provided the impetus toward development of the Biotech Manufacturing Center (BMC).

The BMC already had medical equipment from when Chase occupied the building. It took more than that, however, to bring the concept to reality. Programs and people were necessary to provide a full range of services to prospective tenants. With community support and input from TEEX, Loden and Greg Roach, at the time a SBDC counselor and the first executive director of the BMC, spearheaded the effort to obtain Federal Assistance from the Economic Development Administration to fully develop the incubator.

The BMC used grant funds to purchase more than $1 million worth of equipment at a very favorable cost. The Athens EDC provided grants and loans, investing in a company it believed to have the potential to create high paying jobs and even generate new businesses in the long run. This got BMC started. Another $800,000 grant from the Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration provided for a new 5,000 square foot building.

Marketing studies conducted by TED identified potential tenants for the BMC. One of the prospects was Pharma-Pen, Inc, a medical device manufacturer. When they moved the company’s operations to the BMC in February 2005, they had already developed prototypes for their product, a disposable autoinjector. However, they lacked the sophisticated machinery necessary to test their product. With hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of machinery and a knowledgeable staff, the BMC allowed Pharma-Pen to save big money – as well as do away with outside vendors and move the injection molding tooling in-house. Since that time, Pharma-Pen has sold their company to a large pharmaceutical company.

From Idea to Reality

The BMC was envisioned as a unique kind of business incubator, providing facilities and technology development programs. The BMC provides a business model for new medical devices from the first stages of ideas, to prototype to product. The BMC takes advantage of the local community college that trains its workforce. It attracts new businesses to Athens and fosters their growth with facilities, services and a workforce ready made serve a highly specialized industry.

Athens made it happen. Local cooperation was a key factor. Trinity Valley Community College and the SBDC worked with Athens EDC and the Henderson County Medical Society, the Chamber of Commerce and the Athens Industrial Foundation, who joined in to support the project. Working together with Athens EDC director Herb Gatlin, the BMC looked outside the community for guidance and support. They established an advisory board made up of local advocates as well as individuals from Texas A&M, the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) Technology and Economic Development Division and the University of Texas at Arlington. The advisory boards provide valuable insights and help Athens EDC and the BMC acquire funding to continue to move forward.

Today, the vertically integrated facility accommodates manufacturing requirements for extrusion; injection molding; dipping facilities; biomedical engineering; mold and prototype machining; quality assurance testing; clean rooms; access to sterilization facilities; and video conferencing facilities including remote cameras in manufacturing areas. BMC has obtained IOS 9001:2000 and ISO 13485:2003 certification.

Successful Return on Investment

In less than three years since BMC got started, more than 30 companies have taken advantage of the incubator's multi-million dollar equipment, clean rooms and business planning, marketing and manufacturing support. BMC is developing things like neonatal heart pumps and self injection syringes. The BMC holds confidential much of the ongoing work at the center but suffice it to say this is important, life saving technology.

BMC receives calls from other incubators all across the country seeking their support with specialized projects because there is no one else in the country doing what BMC does. It's the only medical manufacturing incubator in the nation and the business model is working. BMC is now at 36 employees working in its facility, up from 10 last year. They are looking at 6 new market research projects right now. BMC is growing, jobs are being created and economic growth is happening. And the recognition is following. Recently, the Association of Small Business Development Centers in Washington received a phone call from Entrepreneur magazine asking for one of their biggest success stories. They pointed to BMC.

Another form of recognition comes from the National Policy Research Council and Expansion Management.com. A recent newsletter from District 4 State Representative Betty Brown references their recognition of Henderson County as among the best small counties for recruitment and attraction of business in the US. Of the 3,141 counties in the United States, Henderson County ranks 4th on the list.

An analysis of relocation decisions of 19 million companies in the last eight years by the National Policy Research Council and Expansion Management.com, Henderson County was ranked 4th in the country; they were surpassed only by Buchanan County, Missouri, near Kansas City; Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg; and Franklin County, Kentucky, midway between Lexington and Louisville.

Other cities in Texas named in the study were Austin which took the number 3 spot for the “Top large Metropolitan Areas for Business Attraction;” Denton was number 14 for the “Midsize Counties” category; and Kendall County, which was named 5th in small counties in the US.

Release of this study came almost simultaneously with the announcement of the acquisition of Pharma-Pen by West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. West, a multinational pharma company, leased substantially more space from BMC to establish a division that will work on concept testing and new product development. This encouraged BMC Executive Director Gary San Miguel to contemplate the future of the biotech industry in Athens. “East Texas is slowly becoming a medical Mecca. I may even go out on a limb and say that Athens has the potential of becoming Texas’ version of Silicon Valley for biotech and the medical industry.”

To learn more about BMC and how Athens, Texas is leveraging unique assets for economic growth, contact Gary San Miguel, Executive Director of the BMC at 903-675-6036 x 103, or visit BMC online at www.bmc-texas.org.

Gary Sera (left), Interim Director, Texas Engineering Extension Service and Pete Sessions, Congressman, 32nd District of Texas of Texas, tour the Biotech Manufacturing Center (BMC) in Athens

Governor Perry and Rep. Brown tour the Biotech Manufacturing Center of Texas (BMC) in Athens.

About the Author: Deborah Webb is a representative of TEEX who is committed to support of rural economic development. Deborah may be reached via email at deborah.webb@teexmail.tamu.edu.