Listen to Stan Blood, Genesee Regional Chamber Vice President of Communications and Marketing,
and Lars Beholz, Kettering professor, at the press conference (4:13)

KETTERING PROFESSOR RECEIVES FUNDING
FOR PROMISING NEW TECHNOLOGY

(Tuesday, June 10, 2008) -- The Frankel Commercialization Fund at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and the Michigan State University Rational Siting Push/Pull Accelerator 2 (RSPPA2) program have announced their funding support of a technology developed by Kettering University Visiting Associate Professor of Chemistry, Lars Beholz.

The announcement was made at a news conference held at Kettering University on Tuesday, June 10, 2008. Present at the event were Kettering University President Stan Liberty, representative from the Frankel Fund and Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO, Tim Herman.

“This project is an important step for Kettering and the community,” said Herman. “We have attracted outside investment that we hope will lead to the creation of a new business and new jobs in our community. It is another clear example of the power of partnerships in driving change in Genesee County.”

The Frankel Commercialization Fund awarded $71,000 and the RSPPA2 fund $50,000 to BeholzTech, Inc., the company founded by Dr. Beholz, to advance his discovery of a cost-effective method to alter the surface of polyolefin plastics so the material will easily accept coatings. Prior to Dr. Beholz’s technology the coating, bonding and chemical modification of polyolefin plastics was generally prohibitive due to the significant financial investment required and the potentially dangerous chemical byproducts created. Beholz’s technology of environmentally aware coatings will enable additional uses and new markets for polyolefins by the $110 billion plastics industry. It is anticipated that BeholzTech will be the first tenant of Kettering University’s Fuel Cell and Advanced Technology incubator.

“We are very pleased to be able to partner with UM’s Frankel Fund and MSU’s RSPPA2 fund,” said Dr. Beholz. “The funding will be absolutely critical to enable BeholzTech to produce sample products that we can use in sales to potential customers and to attract more investors.” According to Dr. Beholz the pre-seed seed money will be used for prototype development, customer identification, marketing plan development and the recruitment of management personnel. “If we are successful, I think we will have a handful of people within 12 months working here in Flint,” said Dr. Beholz.

The Frankel Commercialization Fund (FCF) is a pre-seed investment fund established to identify and accelerate the commercialization of entrepreneurial ideas with great potential and vision for the future. Established in 2005, the fund is believed to be the only student venture capital fund of its kind. MBA students operate the fund and will provide technical assistance to BeholzTech through early stage development.

Tom Porter, Executive-in-Residence at the UM Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies and Director of the Frankel Commercialization Fund believes BeholzTech provides opportunities for his students and Dr. Beholz. “We think the project has significant potential for the inventor and it provides a real world experience for our students,” he said. Our students will continue to be involved and will monitor BeholzTech’s progress and provide guidance to ensure that the company is meeting milestones to advance growth.”

BeholzTech received a loan of $50,000 from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), based upon nomination by the Rational Siting/Push-Pull Accelerator (RSPPA) project. A joint initiative between Michigan State University and Midland Tomorrow, RSPPA has been supported by grants to MSU from the Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor and the current 21st Century Jobs Fund.  One component of RSPPA is a series of loans available through the MEDC to Michigan start-up companies, designed to help alleviate early shortages in angel and other seed capital.

"RSPPA was pleased to be able to assist BeholzTech in obtaining is early funding goals. The RSPPA project looks forward to helping other Michigan start-up companies with their business planning," said Loraine Hudson, principal investigator of the RSPPA project at Michigan State University.

The BeholzTech is currently working on several development projects in coatings to better understand the market needs of potential customers. It is expected that UM and MSU will provide the company with significant assistance with respect to its go to market strategy at this pivotal stage as a function of their respective investments. “As a Kettering professor, it has been a huge pleasure for me to work with UM and MSU here in Flint. I am hopeful that BeholzTech can serve as a ‘proof of concept’ for other companies in mid-Michigan” said Dr. Beholz.

BeholzTech Inc. is a developer of a new generation of environmentally aware performance coatings and materials for use in advanced manufacturing and beyond. For more information about the company, visit www.beholztech.com.