ANN ARBOR—When entrepreneurs and business leaders seek assistance at the University of Michigan, they’re sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer volume and variety of the research underway here.

Finding the right U-M expert can be like trying to sip from a gushing fire hose, and some visitors leave confused and thirsting for answers.

The new University of Michigan Business Engagement Center is designed to quench that thirst. Scheduled to open early next year, the center will provide one-stop shopping for businesses and industry researchers seeking university expertise.

“Among its many functions, it serves as an information portal for the outside world, where people can go and immediately get connected, in a knowledgeable and proactive way, with faculty members who have expertise that might overlap with the needs of that company,” said Stephen Forrest, U-M vice president for research.

The Business Engagement Center is part of the Office of the Vice President for Research’s campus-wide effort to strengthen U-M ties to industry and to help resuscitate Michigan’s economy. The campaign also includes the Michigan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, a fledgling partnership between Michigan universities and philanthropic foundations announced last month by U-M President Mary Sue Coleman.

The Business Engagement Center, a collaboration between the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Office of Development, will move initially to the Galleria Building, 1214 S. University Ave. The building is on the southeastern edge of the Central Campus, between Church Street and South Forest Avenue.

The U-M Office of Technology Transfer will move to the same building, leaving Wolverine Tower to be closer to campus and downtown Ann Arbor. The move signals a redoubled effort to create more startup companies and to engage more U-M faculty and students in entrepreneurial activities.

With funding from the Office of the Provost, the business center will start with two fulltime employees who will assist walk-in visitors and respond to telephone calls and e-mails. Meeting rooms also will be available at the center.

A permanent home, which could involve other university units, is being planned.

“Think of it as a concierge service, a place that connects needs to solutions,” Ken Nisbet, executive director of the Office of Technology Transfer, said of the Business Engagement Center. “The staff will have information and connections to quickly link outside partners to the people and resources of the university.”

Individual U-M schools and colleges such as the College of Engineering already have similar programs in place, but it’s never been attempted university wide. U-M officials studied what other universities are doing and borrowed ideas from several of them, including the University of Minnesota, the University of Southern California, MIT and Georgia Tech.

And how will Forrest measure the Business Engagement Center’s effectiveness?

“The faculty and companies have to know it’s there, and use it. So if it has a lot of traffic, that’s a sign of success,” he said. “And we might also see an incremental increase in the number of agreements between the university and companies.”

For more information, visit:

Office of the Vice President for Research: http://www.research.umich.edu/

U-M Tech Transfer: http://www.techtransfer.umich.edu/index.php

Office of the Vice President for Research:U-M Tech Transfer