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Thursday, November 12, 2009
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University offers help to area firms
Associate Editor Matt Kramer, director of the University of Minnesota's Office of Business Relations, wants to link Minnesota businesses with the expertise of the university's 70,000 students and faculty.
Speaking at Tuesday's Brainerd Rotary Club meeting at the Red Roof Inn in Brainerd, Kramer said the university can offer talent, training, technology and theoretical research to businesses.
The research, he said, goes beyond the stereotypical lab research, citing studies that deal with using new media such as Facebook for business purposes or family business succession planning.
"It's not just the lab coats," he said.
As a representative of the university, Kramer began his presentation with a tongue-in-cheek expression of regret for the football Gophers' Nov. 7 loss to the University of Illinois.
"By the way, President (Bob) Bruininks apologizes for that pathetic performance," he told the luncheon crowd.
Kramer, who previously served as commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development and as Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief of staff, has two children who attend the university. One is a sophomore and the other is a high school senior who attends as part of the post-secondary enrollment option program.
The Office of Business Relations has been established for three years but has recently been rebranded in an effort to reconnect the university with the state's business community. Kramer said that sharing the university's knowledge and conducting research for the public good is a part of the school's 1851 charter.
His office allows businesses to post internships on its Web site and links businesses with one- or two-day seminars conducted by the Carlson School for Management and other professional training opportunities. The university, he said, manages more than $500 million in state research facilities.
"You've probably eaten Minnesota research," he said, referring to Honeycrisp and Sweet Tango apples, developed by the university.
It's all about matching a business with a particular service at the university, he explained.
"We can very quickly be a dating service for you," he said.
Sheila Wasnie Haverkamp, executive director of the Brainerd Lakes Area Development Corp., is interested in continuing to use the university's resources.
"BLADC looks forward to strengthening the Brainerd lakes area's relationship with Matt Kramer and other University of Minnesota representatives," she said.
A recent Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis/Economic Development Action Plan commissioned by BLADC said the university's most promising research that could produce results for businesses in the Brainerd lakes area would involve energy-related items, components for medical devices and sensor manufacturing.
Area businesses can learn more about the Office of Business Relations on the Web at www.business.umn.edu.
MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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