The Akron Global Business Accelerator is sparking the region’s economic engine by incorporating technology and foreign investment and launching successful job-creating machines.

“Our overall objective is to create high-paying, high-tech jobs and bring substantial capital investment to the City of Akron,” says Terry Martell, director of operations and business development. “Our Accelerator is a program of the City of Akron. Because of the sustainable support we’ve received from our mayor since 1983, we’ve been able to do a lot of things other business incubators haven’t.”

Accelerator matches key technologies

Initially started as an industrial-based incubator, the Accelerator, which has graduated 75 companies, changed its name and focus three years ago to concentrate on developing a job sector that matches the key technologies identified in a recent Battelle Institute economic development study.

“The study outlined Ohio’s strengths and how we should position ourselves to prosper in a changing and knowledge-based economy,” Martell says. “We still have strong numbers in the manufacture of metals and polymers; we have worked to incorporate those manufacturing sectors into high-tech industries.”

For example, medical devices require advanced manufacturing and sophisticated tools, whether it is a diagnostic device or some type of life sciences project. “We’re focusing on those where we have an existing manufacturing base because the supply chain is already here, and we’re finding new products and innovations created by the tenants in our center,” Martell says.

The Accelerator staff and its partners offer meaningful resources, not the least of which is the building itself: 200,000 square feet of improved office, manufacturing, assembly, wet labs and conferencing facilities in a secured building with 24/7 accessibility. Space is provided at below-market rates to help new entities get through those first critical years.

“Our real value is our consultation team,” says Dr. Anthony Margida, director of entrepreneurial services. “Our job here is to promote, facilitate and accelerate these early-stage companies from the idea to the marketplace. We assist with business planning; we use our networks to find strategic partnerships; and we help them put together investment pitches that gain access to capital providers. When a company becomes part of the program, we become an ally of theirs.”

The result is an impressive 90 percent success rate.

Accelerator tenant sees explosive growth

Among the 51 current tenants is Summit Data Communications, recently named the fastest-growing computer hardware company in the Midwest by Inc. magazine. The maker of radio modules that enable wireless medical equipment to communicate with computers in hospitals, Summit has seen a growth rate of 516 percent over the last three years.

“AGBA has been our home since 2006,” says Summit CEO Ron Seide. “The downtown location enables us to utilize University of Akron resources, and the center provides staff for training and counseling and shows us a wealth of shared experiences they've had with other entrepreneurial experiences here in the building. They have been really helpful to all the tenants. We’ll stay as long as they’ll have us.”

Other tenants like Israeli medical device maker NI Medical, the second Isreali company to move to Akron since the city invested in a business incubator outside of Tel Aviv, are seeing success. NI Medical's cardiac diagnostic device, which uses impedance technology to measure heart health, is being used in a major European Union-funded clinical study aimed at helping heart patients better diagnose and manage their disease.