Promoting Innovation and Commercialization in the Dayton Region

Author: Scott Williams

March 2008

In fall 2006, The Raj Soin College of Business launched a unique applied research center to serve the Dayton region, the Center for Innovation Management (CIM).  CIM is an applied research lab that provides business research, analysis and planning assistance to organizations and inventors that have a goal of commercializing their technologies and thereby creating jobs in Ohio.  In addition to assisting with Ohio job creation, CIM conducts empirical research on commercialization outcomes.

Innovation is a worthy pursuit for a community, and is a major reason why some regions maintain high levels of employment and above average pay levels.  Innovative goods and services can sell at higher prices in the marketplace and thereby allow the companies that provide them to profit, survive and thrive.  Innovation also promotes worker productivity.  Workers who produce more are worth more to their employers tend to command higher wages.  

The State of Ohio recognizes the connections among research, innovation and economic outcomes.  In February 2002, the State launched the Third Frontier Project to expand Ohio's high-tech research capabilities and promote innovation and company formation in the expectation that an increase in high-paying jobs will result for generations to come.  Elements of the strategy include promoting high-quality research, increasing the availability of investment capital, nurturing a pool of entrepreneurial talent and availability of support services.  CIM is one such provider of support services.

Wright State University and the Raj Soin College of Business are active partners in the state’s efforts to promote technology development and commercialization.  WSU ranks third among Ohio’s state universities in research.  The Raj Soin College of Business operates seven centers helping to commercialize new technologies and improve business processes.  The centers offer consulting services ranging from RFID technology, ethics compliance, small business development and global expansion.  CIM integrates these and other resources in the community to promote the specific commercialization goals of individuals and firms.

CIM helps innovators evaluate the “business case” for taking their new products and services to market.  Although innovation can lead to higher wages and greater company profits, this is not always the result.  Putting resources into advancing innovations that won’t ultimately generate profits is unwise.  Assessing the likely outcomes of a project before committing time, money and other resources to it is evaluated as an essential part of the business case.  

Innovation not only generates high economic returns, it also involves considerable risk.  We often think in terms of two categories of uncertainty surrounding innovation—technology uncertainty and market uncertainty.  Technology uncertainty concerns questions of whether it’s technically feasible to create the new goods or services and whether they can be produced reliability and supported profitably. We find that the technology capabilities of the Dayton Region are particularly advanced.  Sociologist Richard Florida identified Dayton as being one of the leading communities in the nation in terms of the percentage of the workforce in the creative class.  The creative class includes occupations such as engineers, IT professionals, university professors, artists, poets, architects, health care professionals and business managers in which a high level of formal education and creativity are required.  The Dayton Region also attracts a very large percentage of federal research dollars per capita.  Dayton is also adept at addressing challenges posed by technology uncertainty.

But successful commercialization of new technologies also poses significant market challenges.  Traditionally Dayton has been better at technology challenges than market challenges associated with innovation.  Helping innovators address market uncertainty is CIM’s primary function.  CIM is able to collect data and provide frameworks for making strategic decisions.  Universities are uniquely equipped to do research, and Wright State University has vast electronic and print research resources to support the effort.  Having exposure to a variety of technologies and new products, CIM is able to observe best practices in technology commercialization and apply them to our clients’ situations.

CIM offers its services in exchange for (1) reimbursement of our costs, and (2) the client’s willingness to participate in a study of the outcomes of their commercialization efforts.  The purpose of the outcomes study is to learn from each case in order to apply the lessons learned to improve serves for future clients.

A wide variety of organizations and inventors have benefitted from CIM’s research and strategy analyses.  These include local inventors, R&D firms and university researchers.  CIM offers services to virtually any industry or technology.  Our projects have included medical devices, nanomaterials, metal alloys, electronic devices, alternative energy sources, sporting goods, biotech products, application software, and many others.

Although we normally do not divulge details about our projects, the following case might help convey how CIM helps IT innovators.  We were recently approached by an information technology service provider—a start up—that needed research and strategy recommendations for global and domestic markets for their services.  The company employs fewer than ten full time employees and generates a little more in revenue than it needs to stay afloat.  However, their innovative services have been well received by their clients, and the company is planning to pursue growth capital.  The client asked CIM to validate their perceptions that there was a promising market opportunity for their services with objective research, to quantify that market opportunity, to provide strategy recommendations and to recommend sources of funding.  CIM conducted research on domestic, Chinese and global market sizes, and research on the client’s competitors.  We identified market sizes, growth rates, other trends, competitors’ capabilities, and our client’s unique value proposition relative to the competition.  We provided recommendations for their product development and intellectual property protection.  Finally, we provided lists of public and private sources of financing to assist them with their efforts.  The project was completed in less than four weeks and for a cost that was significantly less than what the client would have paid a professional services firm.  At last report, a prospective funder was in the diligence process of evaluating our client for the possibility of significant capital infusion.

As with all regions, the Dayton Region’s future prosperity will be largely determined by its innovativeness.  CIM is excited to be involved in helping to promote local innovation.  

Contact the Center at (937)-775-4513 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Additional information on line at www.wright.edu/business Click on Business Community and then the link to Innovation.