Henry Ford was responsible for not only accelerating mankind into the Twentieth Century, but also revolutionising the workplace and workers conditions. His achievements with technology and management are now stuff of legend and text books the world over regularly quote and reference him.

This morning, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is expected to announce his intention to establish a cleantech incubator in Boston's "Innovation District," a/k/a the Seaport District. The Mayor planned to make the announcement at the Ad Club's Edge Conference.

According to his prepared remarks, the Mayor mentioned Boston-based EnerNOC, a publicly-traded company, and his plans to build a 1.65 megawatt wind turbine on an island in Boston Harbor.

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been blogging, how many subscribers you have or even if you’re still waiting to get your first comment — we’re all want to become better bloggers. You want to continually increase your reputation as someone who knows their stuff and set yourself as valuable to readers. With that in mind, here are six tips to help you instantly improve your blog. That’s right; you can significantly improve your blog today.

Grab a pen.

Hone in on your goal: You started your blog for a reason, right? What was it? Often when small business owners blog they’re doing it to increase their search presence, create new content to attract users, increase sales, build a community, become an industry authority, etc. Whatever your reason (or combination of reasons), make sure that stays in the forefront of whatever blogging strategy you create. It’s really easy to fall off course and blog for the sake of blogging, but that attitude isn’t going to help you reach your goals or build your blog. Know why it is you want to build your blog and make sure you’re staying true to that.

As the economy edges toward recovery, the best job-creation policies Congress can implement may well focus on allowing U.S. ingenuity to flourish.

As New Democrat Coalition leaders, we believe this is a top priority to build on our nation’s core strengths of innovation and entrepreneurship.

During the downturns of the early 1990s and 2000s, innovative small businesses led the way out of recession. More than half the companies in today’s Fortune 500 — including Microsoft, Federal Express and Intel — were born as small businesses in the depths of past recessions or bear markets.

Resveratrol — found in red wine, grapes, blueberries, peanuts and other plants — stops out-of-control blood vessel growth in the eye, according to vision researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The discovery has implications for preserving vision in blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in Americans over 50.

The formation of new blood vessels, called angiogenesis, also plays a key role in certain cancers and in atherosclerosis. Conducting experiments in mouse retinas, the researchers found that resveratrol can inhibit angiogenesis. Another surprise was the pathway through which resveratrol blocked angiogenesis. The findings are reported in the July issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

Thirty-two Oklahoma health research projects were chosen by a peer review team from a total of 148 applicants and have been approved for funding by the OCAST governing board. The top-ranked research applications represent a three year investment by OCAST in excess of $4 million. OCAST, the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, is Oklahoma’s technology-based economic development agency.

K-State Olathe works with government, industry and university partners to promote technology-based economic development in Johnson County and the State of Kansas.

Venture capitalists and angel investors are not the only ones engaged in investing in early-stage companies. To spur entrepreneurship, CB Insights also track state-run innovation grant programs which are ‘investing’ in early-stage, scalable companies. The investment from these state-run programs comes in the form of grants primarily since the goals for these state-driven programs is job creation and local economic development versus equity investment returns.

Health information technology is hot at Cleveland Clinic Innovations, these days.

The corporate venturing arm of the Cleveland Clinic has built operations to a crescendo in its first decade, according to Chris Coburn, executive director of the unit and the Clinic’s chief of technology commercialization.

While Coburn’s unit may be better-known for spinning off medical device, drug or therapy companies, it’s also launched a few health IT companies, including one that’s based on how the Clinic operates. And Coburn hinted more are coming.

This is one in a series of case studies in how the University-Technology Enterprise Network (UTEN) is helping Portuguese Technology Transfer Offices develop practices that lead to globally competitive and sustainable operations. This case study is an example of how UTEN applies Technology-Based Training (use of real cases during training) to accomplish this goal.

About U Porto

With origins dating back to the eighteenth century, the University of Porto is currently the largest education and research institution in Portugal. Close to 29,000 students, 2,300 teachers and researchers along with 1,700 administrative staff attend its 15 schools and 69 scientific research units, spread across 3 university campuses located in the city of Porto. Every year, around 2,000 international students choose this university to complete their higher education. With 69 research units, the University is responsible for over 20% of the Portuguese articles indexed each year in the ISI Web of Science.

Who couldn’t use this? A basic introduction to Einstein’s thinking – one that assumes no prior knowledge, just an open mind. In one short hour, Ramamurti Shankar (Professor of Physics & Applied Physics at Yale) breaks down Einstein’s theories and formulas for a lay audience. If this whets your appetite, then you’ll want to download Shankar’s free course called The Fundamentals of Physics. You can download it here (iTunes - YouTube – Web Site), or find it in the Physics section of our big collection of Free Online Courses.

I was meeting with a group that is interested in fostering innovation in the state where I live and we were talking about the reasons why organizations don’t innovate. We talked about the lack of strategy and cultural barriers and a number of other reasons. There are hosts of very smart people writing books and research papers on this very topic, but it struck me that I should be able to communicate the reasons firms don’t innovate in a way that a fifth grader can understand, since some of the folks we work with..never mind.

At any rate, I created my alliterative list of reasons why firms don’t innovate, and if I get the time I’ll explore them in more detail over the next week or so. I encourage you to add your own reasons in the comments – alliterative or not, they are welcome as we begin to first name the reasons, and hopefully eventually debunk the reasons why firms won’t or can’t innovate. Herewith, Dr. Seuss meets Clayton Christensen.

It’s been a year since I shared some lessons from a reluctant entrepreneur. In that time, Outspoken has thrived and swelled in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

As we approach our terrible twos, our legs are sturdier, the brand is stronger, and we continue to fall in love with our clients.

Of course, it hasn’t been all rainbows and head pats. We’ve also had our share of scraped knees, bruised egos and days when I’ve wanted nothing more than to egg Rhea’s house or drive to Guelph just so Rae could see me roll my eyes at her in person.

A lot of folks start their fundraising efforts by targeting their first choice prospect and working down the list. It’s instinctively the most natural thing to do.

But unless you are a really good fundraiser and know that the process will be a slam dunk, I think this is exactly the wrong approach.

Practice makes perfect, and fundraising is no different.

Fundraising unfortunately is as much about how well you tell your story as it is about the content.  And most people only get better at telling their story the more times they do it.

As fledgling companies try to take off, “angel” investors can play a pivotal role.

Angels are investors who provide funding to early-stage companies that have used up their initial financial support from friends and family members. Angels also cover the critical funding period before emerging companies attract support from venture capital firms.

The Buffalo Niagara region is trying to stimulate more angel investing activity by connecting the area’s pool of budding entrepreneurs with funding sources. A forum held Thursday was designed, in part, to expose angel investors to high-tech ventures that might be worth their dollars.

“It’s people self-identifying that they want to be part of the investment community,” said Marnie LaVigne, director of business development at the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, affiliated with the University at Buffalo.

Back in 2006, Alexa von Tobel had what she considered a sure-fire business idea: A website with investment tools and advice columns to teach young women about personal finance. It took nearly three years for her to round up her first external funding, $1.1 million from angel investors. In April, after eight more months and 35 investor meetings, she obtained $4.5 million from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Accel Partners.

It's too early to know if her company, LearnVest, will change the world as von Tobel predicts. Yet even after von Tobel's arduous quest for financing, the 17-employee operation has already beaten the odds. Over the past decade companies headed by women represented less than 7 percent of the startups funded by venture capital firms, even though women launch nearly half of all new businesses.

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scientists and researchers from 17 universities and research institutions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware have been invited to submit proposals for the third round of the University City Science Center’s QED Proof-of-Concept Funding Program.

The RFP was released on June 24 to: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Delaware State University, Drexel University, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Lehigh University, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Delaware, University of Pennsylvania, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Widener University, The Wistar Institute.

The QED Program (from the Latin “Quod Erat Demonstrandum” – “that which is demonstrated”) integrates four elements that are critical to successfully and efficiently performing early-stage proof-of-concept technology assessments: grant funding, business advice, market drivers and guidance to exit. The program was launched in April 2009.

Proposed Minnesota Science and Technology Authority

"The Minnesota Science and Technology Authority, modeled after programs like the Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Pennsylvania, would...oversee economic development efforts, including money to retain local grown companies and attract out of state ones." [Full Story]

New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation

"Lawmakers [have] installed the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation, which will oversee regional governing bodies modeled on the decentralized Ben Franklin Technology Centers sprinkled throughout Pennsylvania." [Full Story]

Ohio Thomas Edison Program

"The Ohio Thomas Edison Program includes eight Edison technology centers statewide...and 13 Edison technology incubators. Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which dates to 1982, was a model for Ohio's program, created in 1984." [Full Story]

Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation

"[In 1982] Ben Franklin Technology Partners initiated the first programmatic approach to technology-based economic development, providing a national model for other regions to replicate, which a large number would soon do....By 1988, 45 states were reporting more than 250 technology-based economic development programs." [Full Story]

Programs in Ohio, Indiana, and Connecticut

"In 1982 in Pennsylvania, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners program was created in order to help build a technology driven economy....The success of the program led to the creation of similar programs in Ohio, Indiana, and Connecticut." [Full Story]

“We Are All Born Entrepreneurs tells stories of sacrifice in the quest for the American Dream”

MALVERN, PA, June 23, 2010 – Steve Welch, the founder of Mitos Group and co-founder of DreamIt Ventures, announces the release of his book today that shares numerous stories on what drives entrepreneurs, and why we all strive for the American Dream. We Are All Born Entrepreneurs chronicles the struggles and successes of men and women across the country who overcame amazing odds to build successful businesses from scratch.

“As I interviewed entrepreneurs across the country I realized that each one followed a different path, but there were also certain traits and skills that all successful entrepreneurs possessed,” said Welch. “I compiled over a dozen stories that I believe provide learning experiences for aspiring entrepreneurs and also answered the question of why so many of us find purpose in entrepreneurship.”

“My goal in this book is not to provide a road map for entrepreneurs, but rather a realistic understanding of the skills that need to be developed to build a business from scratch, while at the same time providing insight into the tricks and traps that other successful entrepreneurs have identified,” added Welch.

A Mechanical Engineering graduate of Penn State University, Steve started his first big entrepreneurial success, Mitos, in 2001 with hardly a cent to his name.  Without ever raising outside money Steve built Mitos into a global company in the biotec manufacturing field prior to selling it in 2007 to a Fortune 500 company.  

Following the sale of Mitos, Steve co-founded DreamIt Ventures, a firm based in Philadelphia that helps entrepreneurs get their business ideas up and off the ground by providing them all the resources needed for success. Steve is also an Eisenhower Fellow who is traveling to countries around the globe to develop the best practices to spur entrepreneurship. We Are All Born Entrepreneurs is available for purchase online at Amazon.com. To learn more about Steve and We Are All Born Entrepreneurs, please visit, www.weareallbornentrepreneurs.com.”

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Media Contacts

Jennifer Sherlock, 609-369-3482, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

STEVE IS A FRIEND AND A FELLOW BUSINESS PLAN JUDGE AND ENTREPRENEUR....I RECOMMEND THIS READ.................RICH BENDIS