Trade Group News: Secretaries Renamed
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Peter J. Mladineo and Barbara Fox were published in
U.S. 1 Newspaper on September 9, 1998. All rights reserved.
Incubating Ventures
B>Edward Rosen’s attempts to get venture capital
pumping through the veins of New Jersey technology start-ups may be
nearing a payoff. A man with a mission, Rosen started the ball rolling
to generate some interest from New Jersey venture capitalists in early
stage companies.
The payoff: an incubator showcase, which will be hosted by the Venture
Association of New Jersey and the New Jersey Business Incubation
Network
on Tuesday, September 15, at 11:30 a.m. at the Governor Morris Hotel
in Morristown. The event gives an opportunity to meet both
representatives
from the six New Jersey business incubators and 70 incubator
start-ups.
Also there will be a keynote on technology acquisition and
commercialization
by Thomas Uhlman, president of Lucent Technologies’ new
venture
group. There will also be remarks by Jay Trien, president of
the VANJ; Stash Lisowski, president of the New Jersey Business
Incubation Network; Caren S. Franzini, executive director of
the NJ Economic Development Authority; and five-minute presentations
by selected incubator companies. The exhibit stays open until 6 p.m.,
and will be followed by a cocktail party at 6, and Cyberpub at 7s.
The luncheon and keynote costs $55; the fair costs $15. Call Clara
Stricchiola at 973-267-4200, extension 193, for more information.
“I’m looking to help the technology innovator who has limited
resources, may have a great idea but doesn’t have the necessary money
resources to really finish off the development of his prototype, go
into manufacturing, demo the unit, put out field tests — all the
things that occur before you get your first revenue,” says Rosen,
who along with eight other sponsors, has sunk $3,000 of his own money
into this project. “Those are the people I would like to draw
attention to in the state of New Jersey.”
Corporate sponsors include Lucent Technologies, Brother International,
Ernst & Young, Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch, McCarter & English, and
Lowenstein Sandler.
Rosen, who founded two successful northern New Jersey technology
companies
using west coast venture capital, maintains that the one weak link
in New Jersey’s technology industry is its lack of venture capital.
“If you go to Silicon Valley, those people have support. If you
go to Texas, Texas used to be a state that used to be an oil state
that turned itself around through technology. If you go to
Pennsylvania
they have aggressive programs. I went to Israel and I saw a country
with limited resources turn itself around economically by supporting
its incubators. When you come to New Jersey, the first thing you meet
are budget directors who are very proud that they never invested in
venture capital.”
Rosen, a Republican, tried to get Christie Whitman to appear
at the showcase, but to no avail. “She says she’s interested in
high-tech, but she’s really interested in helping large corporations
develop high-tech.”
If this is so, then Christie might be interested in one of Rosen’s
chief allies in this event, the Lucent Technologies New Ventures
Group,
a Lucent unit that funds Lucent technologies for eventual Lucent
spinoffs.
“For the most part, all our ventures start inside, around a core
Bell Labs technology that doesn’t necessarily fit our existing
business
unit structure,” says Ralph Faison, the new ventures group
vice president. “Think of my unit as an inside group launching
ventures outside Lucent.”
Faison admits that there is a dearth of start-up capital in this
state.
“There’s not a great deal of established infrastructure for
venturing
on the east coast for that matter, and I think that New Jersey stands
out as an area that needs a good deal of help,” he says.
Lucent Venture Partners, an affiliate funded by the technology giant,
is a more traditional venture capital firm that uses Lucent money
to fund outside ventures. “We try to cover all bases in that
way,”
says Faison. “And frankly, the more venture capital activity that
grows in New Jersey and the east coast the better for us.”
Venture capitalists might also want to save this date: Sarnoff’s
ventures
group will be having a venture forum on Wednesday, October 28. The
exhibit will include photonics and high speed communication
technologies,
display technologies (including seamless video walls), and high speed
“cluster” computing. For more information about this event,
call Ira Caesar at 609-734-2740.
— Peter J. Mladineo
Top Of PageNJIT’s Fenster: Cutting Edge
New Jersey may lag behind Silicon Valley in terms of
venture capital but in terms of healthcare, telecommunications,
biotech,
pharmaceuticals, and environmental technology, it may be defining
the cutting edge, says Saul K. Fenster, president of New Jersey
Institute of Technology.
“Here is the place that has AT&T, Lucent, Bellcore, and
Sarnoff,”
he says. “It’s a treasure trove and it has got the major
pharmaceutical
players in the world. That and some of the best access to
transportation
and one of the highest standards for living.”
Fenster is a panelist at the New Jersey Technology Council’s
electronics
industry track on cutting edge technologies on Monday, September 14,
4 p.m. at Sarnoff, 201 Washington Street. The moderator is John
Patterson, a director at Sarnoff Corporation; plus John
Riganati,
director of Sarnoff’s communications and computing systems laboratory;
Ron Hadani, of Ultrasound Technology; Michael Roe,
president
and CEO of NaviSys, and Bill Kroll, executive vice president
of business development at NaviSys. Call 609-452-1010.
“The important thrusts of New Jersey’s technology —
telecommunication,
health, environment, and IT — those are major thrusts of what
we do here,” says Fenster. “A lot of what we do at NJIT is
complementary to the national effort at economic development and the
statewide effort at economic development. We try very hard to be
cutting-edge,
naturally, but we have a great emphasis on the applied, which can
be very sophisticated and esoteric.
Fenster, a mechanical engineer who has a Ph.D from the University
of Michigan, a master’s from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s
degree from the City College of New York, joined NJIT as president
in 1978 after stints with Sperry Rand and an industrial consulting
firm. His exuberance for New Jersey’s native technologies is
unparalleled.
“If you wake me up in the middle of the night and this is what
I’m talking about,” he says.
Fenster also mentions University Heights Science Park, a development
that NJIT is co-developing with other schools in the Newark area.
On 50 acres in Newark adjacent or near to the NJIT campus, there are
two buildings up currently, the Center for Biomaterials and Medical
Device Research and the NJIT Enterprise Center, one of NJIT’s two
technology incubators, headed by Stash Lisowski.
“We’re doing a great deal of business development in the
technology
area,” says Fenster. “That again parallels the industrial
base of the state. Those areas will be software, medical diagnostic,
and esoteric manufacturing. We have 44 businesses on campus. We’re
going to have 70 when we finish with the next buildings, but a lot
of these are going to be in the health-related industries.”
Here is a small sample of what’s brewing now at NJIT:
Multi-lifecycle engineering. To be environmentallyfriendly,New Jersey manufacturers are realizing the benefits of designingreconfigurableor reusable products. “It’s the notion that if you’re amanufactureryou will have to take back your product after its usefulness andremanufactureit or take it apart,” says Fenster.An example is the flyash that power plants emit from theirsmokestacks.”Now we don’t allow the flyash to go into the air, we captureit,” says Fenster. “What you want to do is turn that flyashinto a useful material. What was an economic liability for a powerplant now becomes an economic good. What you had to pay to get ridof you can now sell. You can imagine that this multi-lifecycleengineeringis being applied to all industries in New Jersey. It will ultimatelysave a lot of money, because not only are you improving the bottomline because you’re using products more efficiently but you’re alsominimizing the economic cost of environmental degradation. And a largepart of those costs are litigation costs. If you start to thinkupstreamof all of these costs, it’s a real winner.”Environmental cleanup technologies. “Even though we’reheavily into pollution prevention, we have to understand that we havean enormous legacy of pollution in this state,” says Fenster.”We’re very much into developing new technology for cleaning upthe residue for past industrial mistakes.”Bio-medical informatics. This refers to a master’s anddoctoral program focussing on the storage, archiving, retrieval, andutilization of medical information covering everything from diagnosticinformation to medical imaging. “The difference betweeninformationand data is vast,” says Fenster. “We want to make maximumuse of available data.”Biomedical engineering. NJIT and the University ofMedicineand Dentistry have opened a Center for Biomaterials and Medical DeviceResearch, which does cutting-edge research on biomaterials. Thesecould be anything from artificial blood, artificial skin, prostheticdevices, or various cements that have to be used within the body.”New Jersey has got some of the heroic firms in the world ofmedicaldevices. Having the center is very much in alignment with the kindsof health-related corporations that we have in New Jersey.”Telecommunications. NJIT’s focus includes digitalcommunications,wireless communications, signal processing, and microelectronics(chips).Microelectro-mechanical Systems (MEMS). Related to chips,MEMS are basically infinitesimal machines that could be used to fitinside blood vessels, for example. “We’re not the only ones doingMEMS but that technology is also very, very important to the medicalindustry,” says Fenster.Membrane technology. Membranes can be used to separatetoxic from non-toxic substances, or for purifying blood. “Thereis a whole series of membrane technologies here at NJIT that haveapplications to the environmental industry but also to the medicalindustry.”While Fenster lives, eats, and breathes technology, he doesrecognize the deficiency in the venture capital market for start-upcompanies. Like Edward Rosen, the entrepreneur who organizedthe incubator showcase on September 15 (see above article), Fensterwarns that New Jersey cannot rest on its health technology laurels.”New Jersey is technologically robust and has a high standardof living and what it must do is sustain that,” he says. “Wecan’t just assume that it’s going to continue like that unless wehelp it to continue. We need to build more business incubators. Weneed to help the fledging firms out. We need to develop more companiesin New Jersey. We have to keep that employment machine working.”– Peter J. MladineoTop Of PageHigh Tech LessonsLearn about being a high-tech entrepreneur in sixnot-so-easylessons. The New Jersey Entrepreneurs Forum offers “EntrepreneurUniversity,” six evening sessions at McAteers in Somerset.In the first session of Entrepreneur University, “CommunicateYour Message — a Business Planning Tutorial for TechnologyEntrepreneurs,”a panel of experts will tell how to attract investors with awell-thought-outplan. Scheduled for Thursday, September 10, at 6 p.m. at McAteersrestaurant in Somerset, it costs $40 at the door. For registrationcall Jeff Milanette, executive director, at 908-789-3424, orfax to 908-789-9751 or E-mail: njef@thevine.com.”We wanted to give technology entrepreneurs the chance to talkabout issues that affect them more than the other startups,” saysMilanette. “This is meant to be intensive training rather thanconferencing and networking.””This is the how-to for technology entrepreneurs,” saysMilanette.”It is the kind of training that they desperately need to movethe company forward. It draws from all the venture groups andsuccessfulentrepreneurs throughout the region. It’s worth it to go to see who’sthere.” Each session will include a case study, panel discussion,and a question/answer period.New Jersey Entrepreneurs Forum Inc. is a non-profit corporation thatserves technology entrepreneurs by presenting educational monthlymeetings featuring presentations of topical interest to entrepreneurs,free mentoring services, and referrals to sources of businessassistanceand business plan case presentations.The 13-year-old private nonprofit corporation had been partiallyfundedby the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. Now mailingexpenses are sponsored by the trustee board, which includes FirstUnion-CoreState Bank; Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP; Smith, Stratton,Wise, Heher and Brennan; Innovative Partners Inc; Funds for BusinessPlus Leasing; Yaniv Sneor of Inventures; and A. Jared Silverman,Attorneyat Law.Though the year-long course is for any technical entrepreneur,specificsessions are useful for other job categories. Attorneys might attendthe accounting and taxation evening, for instance. “Even privateinvestors and angels will get something out of learning how venturecapitalists do valuation,” says Milanette. “I want peopleto not just listen but to participate and walk away and say that isthe best darn session I have ever had.”Milanette is a 1972 alumnus of the United States Naval Academy, hasan MBA from George Washington, and has been an entrepreneur himself.He owned a computer-aided design firm in Phoenix, Arizona, and dida turnaround, also in Phoenix. In 1989 he began to set up the firstincubators on Jersey Avenue.Milanette left Rutgers in 1995 to start Innovative Partners Inc.,which provides management advisory services to young technologycompaniesand becomes part of the management team. “We offer investmentbanking advice and prepare an entrepreneur for a major investor –making sure a company has the business backbone that it needs so thatall the development is taking place at the same time, so when youhave developed the technology and are looking for financing, you area credible organization.”Since 1995 the incubator program and its Technology Help Deskcomponent(800-432-1832) has been run for Rutgers and the Small BusinessAdministrationby Randy Harmon. The difference between what the incubator/helpdesk program can offer and what Milanette does is that Milanette putshis own money into each firm he works with — and he works withno more than four at once. You could call him a “pre-venturecapitalist,pre-seed stage.””If we are going to put in money, I will be part of the managementteam,” says Milanette. “I get intensely involved.”Top Of PageMore for EntrepreneursThe New Jersey Entrepreneurs Forum is one of a slewof courses for new business owners. One leads to being eligible fora state loan, the other awards a certificate. The EntrepreneurialTraining Institute, is sponsored by the New Jersey DevelopmentAuthorityfor Small Businesses, Minorities and Women’s Enterprises (NJDA).Graduatesof this program will be in the front of the line to apply forfinancingfrom a revolving loan fund established by the NJDA.Its New Brunswick series starts Thursday, September 10, 6 to 9 p.m.,at the Summit Bank building in New Brunswick and continues with weeklysessions through October 22. The Trenton series began Tuesday,September8, at 6 p.m., and goes through October 27. At the Burlington CountyHigh Tech Incubator on Route 38 in Mount Laurel, the courses startWednesday, September 9, at 6 p.m.These seminars cover such topics as business planning, goal setting,how to make decisions about financing and marketing. The first sessionis $15 and to enroll in the next six weeks costs $150. Call609-292-1890or E-mail sbl@njeda.com“This is a unique opportunity for budding entrepreneurs tointeractwith the experts and remain one step ahead of the competition as weapproach the millennium,” says John S. Wisniewski, assemblydeputy minority conference leader. “These days we are constantlyreminded of our entry into the global economy. Facing such diversecompetition it is vital that we provide our local business peoplewith the tools to keep up.”A Fairleigh Dickinson University program leads to a Certificate inEntrepreneurial and Business Management Studies. Participants in theRothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies program range from ownersof family businesses to scientists at major pharmaceutical companies.They must have a college degree or be high school graduates with threeyears work experience. In addition to the evening classes they areinvited to bimonthly forums. Call 973-443-8842.Top Of PageStraube Open HouseWin andHildegard Straube are havingan open house for tenants and friends at the Straube Center onTuesday,September 15, 4 to 6 p.m. The event will feature demonstrations ofwall-mounted electronic receptionists (EBU Concierges) in the lobbyof the F building. Seeing and talking with visitors are among theoptions available to the tenants using these devices. For informationcall Brenda Tellu at 609-737-3538.Top Of PageTrade Group News: Secretaries RenamedHere’s a name change that seems a long time coming:Professional Secretaries International, which has convened monthlyin Mercer County since 1948, has now changed its name to theInternationalAssociation of Administrative Professionals.”Thank goodness,” says Kim Ponzio, president of theMercer chapter. “We wanted to give it a name that was a littlebit more prestigious, to encompass all of the administrative workers,not just secretaries.”Why has it taken until 1998 — decades since the advent ofpoliticallycorrect, gender-neutral office newspeak — to do this? Ponzioexplainsthat being a secretary is not so taboo in other countries. In somecultures the title secretary can carry quite a lot of prestige.What criteria went into the new name? “They definitely wantedthe word international, they wanted the word professional, andadministrativewas one word that kept coming up,” says Ponzio.New clothes and all, the IAAP’s Mercer chapter will continue to meetmonthly, although it will no longer be meeting in the Marroe Inn,the PSI’s regular haunt, which closed last week. On Thursday,September10, the group will convene at Giovi’s, at 6:15 p.m. Call Ponzio at609-219-6967 for more information.Ponzio, 33, is an administrative assistant who works in the businesstechnology department at Lenox Inc. She started her career in thisarea as a receptionist for American Appraisal Associates at 600CollegeRoad East. She joined PSI in 1992. “My daughter was two yearsold, I just wanted to start working more on my career,” she says.”It seemed like a good idea to learn about what other secretarieswere doing. It was really a good opportunity for networking andlearningnew skills.”For Ponzio, membership in PSI has given her an even more profoundskill: “I had a lot of opportunities to learn to combat myfears.”The association promoted the certified professional secretary (CPS)rating, which culminates in an exam that measures knowledge of financeand business law, office systems and administration, and management.This three-part, six-hour exam is held twice a year. “A lot ofcompanies value the CPS rating as a distinguishing factor,” saysPonzio. “And a lot of our secretaries have gotten promotions asa result of the CPS rating. It’s not a guarantee for success but itsure as heck helps.”Ultimately, the goals of the IAAP remain the same as those of PSI– providing networking opportunities and skills for administrativeassistants. “We’re just trying to give it a more professionalimage,” says Ponzio.While the name change might seem a little tardy, here’s another PSIfactoid: It’s still dominated by women, says Ponzio. But this toois changing. “In Miami one of the men in the organization isactuallypresident of the chapter,” she says.– Peter J. MladineoTop Of PageMore Trade News:APICS Times TwoAnother professional group is undergoing somerenovations.APICS, the Educational Society for Resource Management, formerly theAmerican Production Inventory Control Society, has just combined twoof its New Jersey groups into the combinedPrinceton-Trenton/Monmouth-Oceanchapter. “We needed critical mass,” says GeraldNajarian,president of the chapter. “The fact was that the chapters wereeffectively sparsely peopled. It made sense to combine the two sincethe location of meetings could be centralized in East Windsor andbe convenient to both chapters.”The kickoff meeting features a talk on “Advanced SupplierPartnershipPractices,” by Blair Williams, on Wednesday, September 16,at 6 p.m. at the Freehold Gardens Conference Center in Freehold. Call609-259-5648. The fee is $25.”APICS is a society organized to provide professional developmentopportunities and education in the realm of manufacturing andmaterialsmanagement, hence the original name,” says Najarian.One of APICS’ objectives is to make sure its monthly dinner meetingsare compelling. “They’re not rah-rah sessions,” Najarianreports.”APICS is intended to offer something that will enhance yourknowledgeof the world of manufacturing and materials management.” Thesocietyalso provides evening classes for production and inventory managementcertifications (CPIM). This training takes roughly one year.And there are the “networking” opportunities. But scratchthat term — Najarian eschews the word networking “becauseit implies that everybody’s looking for a job.””In this day and age one can’t sit in one’s office or factoryand say `I’ve got it figured out.’ They have got to know morepeople.”As a merged entity, APICS will have nearly 200 members. Najarian hopesthat 80 will show up in Freehold. “I believe that the formulahere is that with adequate notification and topical subjects withqualified speakers I believe that it will bring out the 40 percentof the members that we need to make a successful meeting,” hesays.Najarian, 58, is the founder of the Remington Group, an eight-year-oldmanagement consultant for manufacturers based in Research Park. Beforethat he was CFO of Guest Supply. He also belongs to the FinancialExecutives Association and has a degree from Iona University (Classof 1967).Top Of PageSell From the HeartOutside counts, but intention matters most. So saysEileen Sinett, president of Comprehensive CommunicationsServices.She will speak at the Central Jersey Women’s Network, on Wednesday,September 16, at 6 p.m. Call 908-281-3119 for $25 reservations.You can try to package yourself perfectly, says Sinett, but let’sface it, nobody’s perfect. But even if you are imperfect, you canstill project an honesty and an inner truth — – an enthusiasm aboutyour work and a strong desire to connect with clients or co-workers.You can create a set of values and intentions that you can standbehind.”Project the love of what you do to the person who has a needfor what you do,” says Sinett. “It has to be less aboutyourselfand more about the sharing and the connection. It’s really a`gifting.'”An Emerson College graduate, Class of 1974, with a master’s degreein speech, she established her speech and presentation practice 20years ago and has an office in Plainsboro.Her clients for presentation design, development and delivery servicesinclude business executives aiming to make presentations, job hunterswanting to improve their interview patter, salespeople who want toupgrade their pitches, members of a wedding party who need to maketoasts, politicians revving up their crowd-pleasing skills, andattorneyshoning their courtroom skills.”Get a professional view of yourself through an image consultantor video,” she urges. When you speak, leave out self diminuatingand negative language. “Rephrase can’ts, don’ts, and nevers intoneutrals or positives.”On the phone, tone of voice is more important than the words.You can sense which telemarketers are going to get through or notbefore they make their pitch.””Everything counts,” says Sinett, “including how you keepyour car inside. Even if you expect the other person to drive, don’tgo to lunch with a business person until you have cleaned out yourcar.”Top Of PageBig Fall for EventsFall is a big season for public relations professionals,suggests Sandra Kimbrough of the Kimbrough Company, which hasoffices in New York and Ewing for public relations, events marketing,and multicultural marketing. “People are back in their homes andoffices and companies can have special events that draw visibility.They provide vehicles to build a whole bunch of free pressaround,”she says.Kimbrough will tell “How to Promote Your Business” at theHightstown/East Windsor Business & Professional meeting on Monday,September 14, at 6:15 p.m., at Coach & Four. For $17.50 reservations,call 609-426-4490.Kimbrough went to Princeton Day School, started college at Kean andcompleted her degree at Thomas Edison State College with a major inhistory and social sciences. She worked in sales and marketing inthe personnel industry in New York, New Jersey, and District ofColumbia.She has lived in Tokyo and Milan and been involved in television andtheater production with a New York City-based company.Her clients include nonprofits, people in the entertainment business,authors, and corporation. Among them have been American Field Service(she was an exchange student herself, to Italy), the historic MercerCemetery in Trenton, an Egyptian importer, a Trenton-based author,an Atlanta-based conglomerate that did development in West Africa,a development foundation for the Republic of Guinea, and theEmploymentChannel.”Having a special event not only gives people a chance to cometo your site, but it gives you a chance to forge ties with them evenif they are not buying at that particular time,” she says. Theseevents can educate the public about your company or your product withyour event, such as a grand opening. Tip: Be sure to track who comesby using a giveaway, raffle, or sign in. Gain information on wherethey live, their family background, and their ages.Top Of PageSaving the EarthNew Jersey Hospital Association’s conference centerhas taken a big step to helping the environment by replacing ordinarypaper napkins with napkins made completely from recycled materials.It also will substitute thin wall foam cups and paper plates forstyrofoamversions. The cost for being responsibly green? About 10 percent more.”The effects of minimizing our use of styrofoam and using recyclednapkins are tremendous,” says Steve Krebs, director ofconferencesand facilities at the NJHA’s headquarters on 760 Alexander Road.Using recycled paper — 1.7 tons of it — will cost more thancurrent supplies, but the distributor (Sysco, the Philadelphia officeof the Houston-based firm, 215-218-1600) will donate a portion ofeach invoice to Second Harvest’s Kids Cafe program, which providesmeals to hungry children in the United States.The switch is supposed to save 9,450 gallons of water, 4.1 cubic yardsof landfill space, 5,535 kilowatts of energy, and prevent 81 poundsof 81 pollutants from contaminating the air. How many corporatecafeteriasare going to follow suit?Top Of PageSaturdays at the LibeThanks to a special appropriation of $50,000, the NewJersey State Library will be open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.starting now, says Jack Livingstone, the state librarian. Thelibrary is more than 200 years old and is affiliated with ThomasEdisonState College. It is located at 185 West State Street in Trenton;609-292-6200; fax, 609-292-2746. Reference, 609-292-6220; fax,609-984-7900.Law library, 609-292-6230; fax, 609-984-7901. E-mail:refdesk@njsl.tesc.edu.The library’s holdings include 500,000 books, 1,500 periodicalsubscriptions,730,000 microforms, and its significant collections are in law,governmentalreference, genealogy, foundations, state history and documents,federaldocuments.The catalog is accessible athttps://www.state.nj.us/statelibrary/njlib.htm.State employees may use barcoded cards to order books to be sent.Any library card and proof of state reference will give you borrowingprivileges. For help on connecting, call 609-292-5669.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
