Funding for the Future

 

In 1871, Antonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant, filed a caveat, a one-year notice of an impending patent, for his invention – an electronic communication system that connected his basement laboratory to the second floor of his home where his wife, who suffered from debilitating arthritis, spent most of her time. One year later, Meucci lost his caveat because he could not afford the $10 renewal fee. Had he been able to pay, history would credit Meucci, not Alexander Graham Bell, with the invention of the telephone.

Inventors and innovators need money to turn ideas into successful businesses. The Product Development and Small Business Incubator (PDSBI) Board, a revolving loan program overseen by the Texas Economic Development Bank within the Office of Economic Development Finance in the Office of the Governor, helps innovators in Texas fund their small businesses and develop new products.

In September 2016, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Kelli Frias, an assistant professor of marketing at Texas Tech, to the nine-member board. As part of the PDSBI board, Frias manages two bonds that fund entrepreneurial endeavors in Texas communities.

"These initiatives offer a chance to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state," she said. "These preferred loans offered by the state allow community members to generate funding for their ideas, which often is difficult."

The board gives preference to products and businesses related to semiconductors, nanotechnology, biotechnology, renewable energy, agriculture, aerospace and medicine, Frias said. According to the Texas Corporation for Economic Development, these areas offer great opportunity for commercialization and job creation.

In addition to serving on the board, Frias supports entrepreneurship as a teacher and a mentor at Texas Tech. She teaches a technology commercialization class for students in the STEM MBA program. In this class, she guides students as they obtain grants to develop prototypes for new technologies.

She also helps alumni, such as the founder of Mason Greenstar Zach Rabon, turn ideas into successful businesses. When Rabon developed Greenstar BLOX, a brick primarily composed of recycled cellulose, he offered Texas Tech University equity ownership in exchange for resources. While the engineering college tested the brick's properties and durability, Frias helped Rabon find funding and develop a business model.

"A lot of people do not have the resources to successfully launch a new technology," Rabon said. " Kelli Frias was a tremendous help. She knew about the struggles companies like mine face and helped us develop a sound business model."

Rabon said Frias not only offered expertise but also connected him to a network of investors and stakeholders. These new connections positioned his company for success.

"New relationships, products and services are the results of entrepreneurship," Frias said. "We are seeing those things happen here with the Innovation Hub at Research Park. We see folks who are entrepreneurial coming together to discuss ideas. These ideas bubble up into small businesses, and then we see growth."

Frias said her position on the PDSBI board allows her to share these activities with decision makers in Austin.

"We have tremendous talent, resources and drive in West Texas. I think we are at an opportune time to see innovation come to fruition here, " she said. "I am excited to share that in Austin."