Chicago Innovation Awards

Chicago Innovation Awards

Chicago may have lost out on the 2016 Olympics, but it still hosts an annual competition in innovation. After poring through more than 200 entries, the judges of this year’s Chicago Innovation Awards honored these Top 10. The 2009 winners range from huge institutions such as the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago to a startup called Rescue Vac Systems, an emergency equipment maker begun by a veteran firefighter. In addition, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) picked up the People’s Choice Award, based on votes registered at the Chicago Innovation Awards Web site, while another Chicago-area firefighter was awarded a special “visionary” award for his public safety invention. Here are profiles of the most innovative companies and people in metro Chicago.(By Michael Arndt, Damian Joseph, Venessa Wong; BusinessWeek; 10/10/2009)

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Godiva Goes to the Supermarket

In 1926, a Belgian boutique began selling smooth, indulgent chocolates in a luxe gold box. The upscale approach has worked well: Godiva has grown into a $500 million product sold at more than 10,400 stores around the world. Now the chocolatier is going mass market. While adhering to its original recipes, Godiva is selling lower-priced bags of candies in supermarkets such as Publix (PUSH.OB) and Safeway (SWY), joining the likes of M&Ms and Hershey’s Kisses.

Godiva executives forecast that the new Gems line of chocolates, as well as baked goods soon to be available on the company’s recently redesigned Web site, will help double revenue by 2014. Already, Gems, which start at $5 for a metallic pouch of 12 to 18 truffles, solid chocolates, or caramels in supermarkets, have grown to 10% of sales in its 423 company stores since their early-September introduction. But as Godiva chocolates become more common—Gems will be in 2,000 supermarkets by yearend—will the brand become commonplace? (By Venessa Wong, The BusinessWeek, October 14, 2009)

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Hershey’s Arrested Development

Buried within Hershey’s (HSY) Web site is a section that invites consumers to pitch their own ideas for new products. “We are seeking innovative concepts,” it reads. “What’s your big idea?”

Hershey could certainly use the help. The innovation cupboard at the $5.1 billion chocolate maker has grown bare. In the mid-2000s, Hershey regularly launched over 200 products a year, according to consumer-product tracker Mintel. Last year that number fell to 146, and through the first three quarters of 2009, just 40 items have made their debuts. Hershey’s R&D budget comes to just 0.5% of sales. (By Matthew Boyle, The BusinessWeek, October 14, 2009)

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Louisville’s Sypris Sells Test & Measurement Business to Tektronix

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sypris Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: SYPR) has completed the sale of its Test & Measurement business to Tektronix.

Commenting on the announcement, Jeffrey T. Gill, president and chief executive officer of Sypris Solutions, said, “The completion of this transaction with Tektronix marks an important milestone for Sypris Solutions. The proceeds from the deal will enable us to support many growth opportunities in our Aerospace and Defense segment, including those related to global key management, secure communications, identity authentication and cyber warfare. The transaction will strengthen our balance sheet and focus our future investments in two highly scalable platforms represented by our Industrial and Aerospace and Defense segments.’(Manafacturing & Techonology eJournal, October 29, 2009)

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Obama’s 25 Ways To Rebuild America

Obama’s Mega-Dollar Wish List

On Sept. 21, the White House released its Strategy for American Innovation: Driving Towards Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs. In the white paper, President Barack Obama outlined the “grand challenges of the 21st century,” broad issues affecting industries from health care to transportation. Here’s a look at 25 big ideas that could revolutionize contemporary life—and some of the companies that might make them a reality.(By Damian Joseph,The BusinessWeek, 10/26/2009)

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Business Groups Push Hard Against the Senate Bill

Employers are blasting the Senate’s plan to create a new public health-insurance program — a sign of how businesses are becoming increasingly uneasy about Democrats’ proposals to overhaul the health system.

.Lobbyists for employers thought they had staved off a public plan in the Senate after the Finance Committee opted not to include the idea in its version of the health legislation. They were caught by surprise when the public plan resurfaced and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said it would be in the bill brought to the Senate floor, albeit with an option for states not to participate.

President Barack Obama invited a group of small-business owners to meet with him at the White House Thursday. He will make the case that the health overhaul will give them the ability to control health costs. (By JANET ADAMY , The Wall Street Journal, OCTOBER 29, 2009)

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Kentucky Governor Beshear Signs Landmark Business Incentives Bill

Owensboro, Kentucky — Accompanied by community and business leaders in Owensboro, Gov. Steve Beshear took part in a bill signing for House Bill 3, which includes new and expanded business incentive programs to encourage job growth and capital investment in Kentucky.

The Incentives for a New Kentucky bill, sponsored by Rep. Tommy Thompson of Owensboro, streamlines and modernizes Kentucky’s business incentive programs including the consolidation of four long-standing programs, Kentucky Rural Economic Development Act, Kentucky Industrial Development Act, Kentucky Jobs Development Act, and Kentucky Economic Opportunity Zone Act, into a single, more flexible tax incentive program called the Kentucky Business Investment (KBI) Program.(Manafacturing & Techonology ejournal, August 12, 2009)

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President Obama to Raise SBA Loan Limits

President Announces Support from Treasury for Smaller Community Lenders Committed to Increasing Lending to Small Businesses

WASHINGTON ‘ The U.S. Small Business Administration has issued the following statement by SBA Administrator Karen Mills on President Barack Obama’s proposal to raise the maximum loan size for SBA-backed loans to small business:

“Nine months ago, President Obama sent small businesses a life line: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Since then, the SBA has supported more than 33,000 loans for a total of almost $13 billion in small business lending. (Manufacturing & Technology eJournal | October 21, 2009)

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Now Is Not the Time for Caution Our special report looks at how innovation can steer a company’s strategy, even in tough times

In times of economic hardship, businesses are more tempted than ever to batten down the hatches. After all, management literature agrees: Transformative innovation involves taking a risk with absolutely no guarantee of a payoff. And who would want to get tangled up in that type of strategy just as a company’s core business is struggling? Surely only a crazy person. (By Helen Walters, The BusinessWeek, October 14, 2009)

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Federal Grants for Small Businesses Only

If you know of anyone with an idea for a new innovation, or new use for existing innovation in any of these topics/subtopics, they can apply for a Phase I SBIR grant.

Details:

The proposal is due January 14, 2010.

In order to apply, the applicant must be a small U.S. business by the time of the award.

Phase I proposal budgets must not exceed $95,000. The project duration for the Phase I research must not exceed six months. If the business is Ky based, it may be able to receive matching grant money from the state.

Phase I – Feasibility Research – Purpose: to determine the technical feasibility of the proposed research and the quality of performance of the small business concern receiving an award.

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