Universities and colleges across Michigan may be scrambling to reduce costs as state officials weigh deep budget cuts to higher education. But programs that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation will likely be spared, school officials say.
The programs are well-established and often funded by outside sources and therefore won’t be directly affected by the state funding cuts. However, the poor economy could make it more difficult for centers to raise funds and university-bred startups to survive once they leave campus, officials say.
Bryan Ritchie, the director of Michigan State University’s Entrepreneurship Network, says he doesn’t think the proposed cuts cuts will hurt his organization because 80 to 90 percent of the network’s funding comes from outside MSU. He does worry that a weak economy might discourage donors from writing checks.
“We continue to grow pretty rapidly, it’s just made it a little tougher to get some the resources we need,” Ritchie says. “Even though it’s been a little bit hard, we’ve been able to get them.”
Judy Johncox, associate vice president for research and technology commercialization at Wayne State University, says there’s still strong interest in university innovation from students and faculty and companies looking to commercialize high tech intellectual property.
She remains confident any cuts won’t hurt WSU’s efforts to foster an entrepreneurial spirit on campus. But startups that spin out from Michigan universities might have a tougher time staying afloat, she says.
“The cuts to education I don’t think are the issue, I think the economy itself and financial resources to support those companies once they get started is the issue,” she says.
Tim Faley, managing director of the University of Michigan’s Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, says such programs are “beyond the tipping point.”
Like MSU’s Entrepreneurship Network, Wayne State’s Blackstone LaunchPad or his own center, most campus innovation programs are endowed, Faley said.
Perhaps most importantly, Faley says, university officials understand that they can show state legislators