Research Profiles
Golden Prospects
Graduate students research potential tenants
Graduate students in a small-business management class led by Moore School of Business professor Dean Kress might have struck gold with a list of business prospects for Innovista.
One group of students in the class, which is run like a management consulting firm, was tasked to search potential tenants--companies that match up with Innovista's core research areas, have 10 to 50 employees, and have revenues from $3 million to $50 million.
Fortune 546
"We identified 546 companies that could possibly be a good fit for Innovista," student Bracy Hunt says. "We found 85 Future Fuel™, 156 biomedical, 158 nanotechnology and 147 environmental companies."
Innovista executive director John Parks, who managed the project along with professor Kress and University associate vice president for marketing and communications Gary Snyder, was impressed with the students' findings
Research on target
"The students did a great job," Parks says. "The list was more targeted than the first prospecting list we had, which I anticipate will result in an excellent response rate."
The students mined global and national business databases, primarily Dun & Bradstreet and Hoover's, which provide specific information about individual companies.
"We were looking for fast-growing start-up companies," group member Steven Fraiser says.
Experience counts
Participating on the Innovista project proved to be a valuable learning experience for the students. "Working on this project showed us the importance of teamwork. If we didn't collaborate as a group, this would not have been as successful," student Shenedra White says. "Deadlines and objectives can change, and time management is essential."
The students look forward to seeing Innovista's progress. "Innovista has a bright future with Mr. Parks working on it. He has developed several successful research parks, and I think he is doing a great job here," group member William Mann says.
From left, Steven Frazier, Shenedra White, William Mann, and Bracy Hunt.
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