The Innovator – The Inland Northwest Technology Education Center (INTEC) Newsletter February 2005

February Newsletter

Message from the CEO
By Lewis Rumpler, INTEC CEO

Liberty Lake Gives INTEC $3K
for Connect Northwest Program

The City of Liberty Lake has provided funding in the amount of $3,000 to INTEC for use towards their entrepreneur development program Connect Northwest. The Liberty Lake City Council confirmed the funding at the first meeting of 2005 as a gesture noting the importance of economic development in the Inland Northwest. The $3,000 is intended to assist INTEC and Connect Northwest in building the region’s technology capacity.

"The City of Liberty Lake is grateful to be in a position to assist programs that will contribute to the sustainability of the regional economy," said Liberty Lake Mayor Steve Petersen.

Connect Northwest is a unique economic development program launched and operated by INTEC. The program is designed to coordinate the comprehensive business support requirements of fledging entrepreneurs, existing companies, regional researchers and educators pursuing the commercialization and acceleration of business opportunities.

This program serves as a "go to" organization providing coordinated access and mentoring to private sector expertise and entrepreneurial resources. These include access to capital, legal, finance and management skills needed for businesses to develop, grow and become sustainable.

"The City of Liberty Lake making this investment in INTEC’s Connect Northwest program once again proves how Liberty Lake has become a model city for attracting and growing technology based business. We thank Mayor Petersen and the Liberty Lake City Council for providing this funding and look forward to working in partnership with them as we continue to build our regional innovation economy," commented Bill Kalivas, Vice President of Business Development.

Education and Workforce Development Update
By Doug Decker, VP of Educational Programs

The Healthcare SKILLS Panel has been working primarily through sub-committees in the Fall of 2004 and early 2005 to encourage implementation of recommendations from the 2003-04 SKILLS Panel. Areas of concentration include:

Clinical Placement Software: The various alternatives for the clinical placement software were evaluated through the subcommittee and it has been determined that a first year license and support will be purchased for the area’s three nursing programs-SCC, ICN and NIC. INTEC is acting as the organizing entity for this initial year after which the schools will evaluate the advantage of the system and decide to either fund and manage future years or stop their participation.

Clinical Research Coordinator Certificate Program: Washington State University Spokane (WSUS), through the Eastern Washington Area Health Education Center (AHEC), has become interested in the offering and is in the later stages of committing to the offering. Ongoing financing will be from student tuition and education/tuition reimbursements from student employers.

The K-20 Subcommittee: Various strands of subcommittee interests are now being pulled together into a planning and development effort combining representatives of the Community Colleges of Spokane, the K-12 school districts and the Spokane Skills Center. The idea is to create a career and technical education program focused on health careers, math and science.

Specialty Nurse Training: More discussion is needed to develop a pre-service model in partnership with academia that would prepare nurses prior to hire and allow them to gain credentials and skills necessary to apply for specialty positions. More information will be coming soon.

Brochure and Website update: The final brochure for High School students has been completed and distributed to Spokane Public Schools and Educational Services District 101. The Spokane Health Careers website is up and operational. Areas covered include vacancy and demand data for key occupations, degrees and certifications in health care offered regionally, Military training, and career stories. http://spokanehealthcareers.org.

Connect Northwest Update
By Bill Kalivas, VP of Business Development & Connect Northwest Program Manager

Next Executive Connect
Breakfast February 10th

Our next Executive Connect Breakfast is this Thursday, February 10th at 7:30am. Held at the Spokane Club, this bi-monthly forum gives CEO’s and top level executives from regional technology and science based companies the opportunity to build collaborative relationships while discussing issues that affect their firms’ strategic direction, growth and operation.

This month’s special guest executive is Wayne Williams, President and CEO of Telect. Mr. Williams will be discussing his background and experiences growing from a fledgling entrepreneur to one of the most visible and successful companies in the region. He will also be discussing creative funding strategies used by Telect over the past few years.

The goal of the Executive Connect Breakfast is to bring CEO’s and executives from around the region together in a roundtable environment to discuss issues related to leading and growing a business. These topics include business strategy, fund raising, employee retention, customer acquisition, channel development, team development, leadership, business challenges, and other critical topics identified by participants. Click here for more information.

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