URI opens Business Engagement Center

URI ENGINEERING STUDENTS Glenn Bautista, Shawn Fineout, Mike Maher and Tim Pheland display the asphalt compactor they designed for their senior project in 2012 for Richmond-based Vibco. The students developed a device designed to compact asphalt patch more effectively so the patch lasts three times longer than traditional methods. The Business Engagement Center is expected to give business and industry a single point of entry to make these types of business connections happen more efficiently.  / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND/MICHAEL SALERNO
URI ENGINEERING STUDENTS Glenn Bautista, Shawn Fineout, Mike Maher and Tim Pheland display the asphalt compactor they designed for their senior project in 2012 for Richmond-based Vibco. The students developed a device designed to compact asphalt patch more effectively so the patch lasts three times longer than traditional methods. The Business Engagement Center is expected to give business and industry a single point of entry to make these types of business connections happen more efficiently. / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND/MICHAEL SALERNO

(Updated, Sept. 6)

KINGSTON – With the opening today of a Business Engagement Center at the University of Rhode Island, connecting businesses, students and faculty is expected to get a whole lot easier.

URI long has been a converging point for companies recruiting workers, faculty seeking support for business-related academic research, and students seeking internships, but a new on-the-ground and virtual portal for such projects is now in place at the center.

The university is formally announcing the center’s launch at a 10 a.m. press conference Thursday at GTECH in Providence.

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“The Business Engagement Center is a focal point for faculty and students to interact with industry in meaningful and innovative ways,” said URI President David M. Dooley, in an advance release. “The new center is URI’s front door for business to navigate the talent and knowledge that URI offers. It’s a one-stop shopping model, responding to companies’ needs and operating in real time, at the speed of business.”

Besides Dooley, expected guests at the official launch include Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee, Speaker of the House Gordon D. Fox and President of the Senate M. Teresa Paiva Weed, as well as URI alumni GTECH Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Bob Vincent, ‘75, and President of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce Laurie White, ‘81. Several Rhode Island businesses were also invited to attend.

“This is another example of the university being forward thinking,” said Chafee, in an advance release. “This type of innovative private-public collaboration will allow businesses to work with URI’s assets and form a strong pool of well-qualified professionals.”

Katharine Hazard Flynn, executive director of the Business Engagement Center, said in a phone interview Wednesday that the center’s “one-stop shopping” will facilitate interaction from start to finish and more efficiently foster work with the business community on everything from technology or intellectual property transfer assistance to licensing information and customized workforce training and skill development.

“At URI, we’ve been working for businesses for a long time,” Flynn said, “but the idea is to create more of a welcome mat for industry to engage at the university, whether it’s hiring our students for internships or doing sponsored research. There are a lot of ways industries can engage here, and what has been a concern is that businesses don’t know where to start or who to call.

“Now, with one phone call or email, they can get sent to the right place in real time.”

That call will be to Flynn, her administrative assistant or a yet-to-be-hired relationship manager, she said in a phone interview in advance of the announcement event. Her offices and a conference room are located in the URI Alumni Center at 73 Upper College Road.

“I will be the front door,” Flynn said. “In some ways, it’s a revolving door, because I look at it as a way for students and faculty to connect out to industry. [For instance], if a faculty member has an idea he wants to get manufactured, I may be able to connect him with a manufacturer.”

The virtual portal set up at http://web.uri.edu/bec/ will likewise extend the university’s reach, Flynn said. Those interested in contacting her directly can email her at khflynn@uri.edu or call (401) 874-7084.

Flynn spent eight years as director of business development for the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, and has held senior-level positions at Prudential Bache, Alex Brown & Sons, Toronto Dominion Securities, and Societe General, and is an alumna of Brown University.

Flynn also currently serves as director of the URI Foundation’s Corporate and Foundation Relations unit, leading efforts on behalf of the university to secure philanthropic support from local, statewide, national and international corporations, and charitable foundations.

“My passion is Rhode Island and working with businesses here in the state,” said Flynn, “but it’s totally conceivable that as we launch this, we get the interest and attention of businesses all over the country. It’s not limited to businesses in the state.”

The concept of organizing a central funnel for business connections is not new. Flynn cited the University of Michigan’s Business Engagement Center as “the gold standard,” which grew from its start in that university’s engineering school to the entire university and eventually incorporated other schools, she said.

The center’s $250,000 operating budget is funded through URI Foundation, President Dooley’s 21st Century Fund and the provost’s office, Flynn said.

Dooley is “very passionate about URI playing a role in industry and the general economic welfare of the state,” Flynn said.

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