Office of Corporate Relations reports busy first six months

In its first six months of operation, the Office of Corporate Relations had contact with more than 300 companies in Wisconsin and beyond, made presentations to more than 30 business and community groups and organizations, and conducted a total of six new business workshops for faculty, staff and entrepreneurs.

OCR Managing Director Charles Hoslet reported that while much of the office’s first six months were spent setting up internal management systems and establishing a central office, “We also carried out a lot of outreach to the business community here in Wisconsin.”

The new office was established in mid-2003 by Chancellor John Wiley, who charged it with serving the needs of the business community by creating a “front door” to make the resources of the university more accessible to business.

The function is funded entirely by private resources, and has a staff of six in an office in the WARF Building on the UW–Madison campus, and a seventh person based in University Research Park.

Hoslet’s six-month progress report includes these activities:

• Contact with more than 300 commercial entities in Wisconsin and beyond;
• Presentations to more than 30 groups in Wisconsin, such as Rotary Clubs, economic development groups, and chambers of commerce;
• Conducted six workshops with more than 100 total participants of selected UW System entrepreneurial faculty and staff and representatives of spin-off companies;
• Took an active part in 10 conferences and trade shows, such as the Midwest/Japanese Bio Symposium in Chicago, the UW Economic Summit in Milwaukee, and the Wisconsin Life Science Venture Conference in Madison;
• Visited six UW System campuses to discuss the new office and learn more about their own relationships with the business community, and also met with local business community and economic development officials in conjunction with the campus visits.

  In his report, Hoslet also highlighted these accomplishments:

  *Creation of an on-line database to track, organize and synthesize university-business activities;

• Creation of the “Graduate Placement Council,” a first-time collection of all UW–Madison school and college placement offices that facilitate communication, planning and marketing of internship and graduate placement opportunities with businesses;
• Creation of a new web site to serve as the electronic “front door” to the university, including special reports, news, and campus resources for businesses (www.corprelations.wisc.edu); and
• Leadership of “SBIR Grantsmanship: Building the Competitive Research Proposal,” a 15-hour course at University Research Park that was a first-ever course in grant preparation for companies.

“We are coming together under our mission of serving the needs of the business community,” Hoslet said, “and while we have gotten off to a good start, there is much work to be done. But so far, the response to our office has been very positive, and we look forward to increasing our work in the year ahead.”