Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

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Chris Downing, vice president and director of Enterprise Innovation Institute, announces retirement

April 15, 2019 By Andrew Smith

Chris Downing, VP of EI2

Chris Downing, who has led the Georgia Institute of Technology’s economic development efforts as vice president and director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), is retiring after 31 years of service.

Downing, who has led EI2 since 2016, leaves behind a decades-long legacy of leadership experience at Georgia Tech in technology-based economic development, university outreach and technical assistance, entrepreneurship and start-up support, and program management.

His retirement is effective June 1, 2019.

“I feel very fortunate for such a diverse and challenging career and to have shared so many good years with the Georgia Tech family, and I am very appreciative of the many faculty, staff, and students who have made my time at Georgia Tech so interesting and inspiring,” Downing said. “Although I am leaving my full-time duties, I look forward to staying connected to Georgia Tech and supporting its mission of progress and service.”

After leaving IBM where he was a mechanical facilities engineer, Downing joined Georgia Tech in 1988 as a senior research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

In 1996, he joined EI2 — then called the Economic Development Institute (EDI) — as the Griffin regional office manager and provided industrial extension and economic development services to the south metro Atlanta region.

Two years later, he was named group manager of technology services for the Economic Development Institute, where he was charged with overall management of technology deployment and information technology services to more than 200 EDI staff and associates located both on campus and in 12 regional offices across the state. In addition, this group provided technical research services for EDI clients in industry, business, and community economic development organizations.

In 2005, he was tapped to lead EI2’s Industry Services group, which included several key outreach programs: the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), the Energy and Environmental Management Center, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC), the Southeast Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SETAAC), and the Georgia Tech Regional Office Network.

Downing was named EI2’s associate vice president in 2013 and vice president in 2016.

In that time, he spearheaded the three-fold expansion of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and created the Venture Center space that has helped to attract several Fortune 100 corporate innovation centers to Technology Square.

His technology-based economic development efforts helped Georgia Tech and the EI2 win the prestigious “2014 Innovation Award” from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the “2014 Outstanding Research Park Award” from the Association of Research Parks.

Most recently, Downing led the feasibility study for the expansion of Georgia Tech’s second research park, Technology Enterprise Park, into a broader life sciences and technology innovation district.

“Chris has been a tireless champion and supporter of our economic development initiatives, working to maintain strong partnerships across the state while creating new collaborations,” said Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson. “We appreciate his leadership role as Georgia Tech partners with the state to strengthen Georgia’s economy.”

Downing is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.

Filed Under: Georgia Tech News Tagged With: ATDC, economic development, EI2, GaMEP, Georgia Tech, GTPAC, SETAAC, Tech Square, Venture Lab

SETAAC helps Brunswick manufacturer improve marketing and customer relations

November 19, 2010 By ei2admin

Dave Erickson, president and CEO of Haven Manufacturing, says the metal tube processing machines that his company makes is ubiquitous to manufacturers in a number of industries – automotive, furniture, construction and exercise equipment, to name a few. However, the widespread need for Haven’s products put the Brunswick, Ga. manufacturer’s customers squarely in the bull’s eye for foreign competitors.

“If you start thinking about everything you’ve seen with tubes in it – automotive airbags and seat frames, indoor and outdoor furniture, construction equipment and scaffolding, bicycles and scooters – you realize how expansive it is,” Erickson explained. “There’s really quite a variety to our customer base. And even though we were not directly affected by foreign trade, many of our customers were and still are.”

Haven manufactures tube processing machines, including the dual-blade shear cutoff, supported shear cutoff, secondary finishing machines and a new flying shear tube cutting machine that delivers high-quality, dimple-free cuts for tube forming mills. The company was founded in 1956 in New Haven, Mich., and moved to coastal Georgia in 1971, where it currently employs 29 people.

To address the issue of foreign competition, Erickson applied for support from the Southeastern Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SETAAC), a program based at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute that helps manufacturers develop and implement turn-around strategies to better compete with imports. SETAAC director Marla Gorges conducted an initial review of Haven and helped the company prepare an application for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Once the company was approved for funding, she developed an adjustment plan that detailed projects to receive funding support, including assistance in marketing and sales, web site development and customer relationship management.

“Our number one challenge was figuring out what to do and what would be the biggest bang for our buck,” recalled Erickson. “One of the first things we thought of was building up our brand. We used a creative team in Atlanta to develop a new eye-catching, yet simple, logo. That started the whole brand imaging concept, from logo to web site to search engine optimization.”

Haven has also increased the effectiveness of its web site, taking into account the company’s sales and conversion rates, lead generation, landing page effectiveness and the amount of time customers spend on the site. According to Erickson, this is a major improvement over Haven’s prior web site, which was not designed to be optimized for searching.

“Being in a global market – and Haven is very involved in international trade – it is very important to have exposure. If you don’t have the exposure, you don’t get the inquiries,” he said. “Our international inquiries and even our domestic opportunities have increased substantially over the last couple of years.”

Last year Haven formed a strategic alliance with SOCO Machinery Co., Ltd. of Taiwan to sell and service each company’s respective lines of tube cutting equipment. Erickson said the partnership provides Haven an outstanding opportunity to grow within the Asian markets, while SOCO’s growth in the U.S. market is enhanced through Haven’s broad market knowledge and reputation. Haven will have exclusive U.S. rights to sell SOCO’s line of automated tube saws, solid bar saws and tube and bar machining centers, while SOCO will represent Haven in China and Southeast Asia for its line of dual-blade and supported shear tube cutting machines.

To increase sales, the SETAAC plan also focused on launching a new prototype, updating factory sales support communications and designing a new product process for end-finishing equipment.

“In general, this has opened us up to new companies and industries that we had not worked with before. That alone says that our customer base is expanding,” Erickson said.

Firms that are accepted into the SETAAC program pay for 25 percent of the initial diagnostic visit and adjustment plan. The Department of Commerce generally pays half of the cost of project implementation for activities to benefit the company. Private sector consultants submit quotes for implementing the identified projects and the company chooses which consultant to hire to execute the outlined changes.

“With Marla’s guidance and input, we were approved for the SETAAC funding, something we wouldn’t have been able to do without her,” Erickson said. “This has been a great experience and I would recommend Georgia Tech to anyone.”

About the Southeastern Trade Adjustment Assistance Center:

The Southeastern Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SETAAC), based at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute in Atlanta, helps manufacturers develop and implement turn-around strategies to compete better with imports. Last year, SETAAC helped more than 30 companies in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. On average, these companies received $42,000 in matching funds. In the last three years, SETAAC’s clients have increased sales by 26 percent and improved productivity by 28 percent. Over the past five years, 49 SETAAC clients reported sales increases of more than $39 million and productivity improvements of more than 43 percent.

About the Enterprise Innovation Institute:

The Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute helps companies, entrepreneurs, economic developers and communities improve their competitiveness through the application of science, technology and innovation. It is one of the most comprehensive university-based programs of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization and economic development in the nation.

Research News & Publications Office

Enterprise Innovation Institute

Georgia Institute of Technology

75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314

Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

Media Relations Contacts: Nancy Fullbright (912-963-2509 ); E-mail: (nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu) or John Toon (404-894-6986 ); E-mail (john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu).

Writer: Nancy Fullbright

Filed Under: Georgia Tech News Tagged With: Commerce Dept., competition, innovation, market research, SETAAC, trade assistance

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