When Mike Hatfield wanted to start a new telecommunications business, he left Indiana to ensure it would happen. Now, he is lending his vision and providing $3 million in funds to aid a collaboration of Indiana universities and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc. (CICP) in the formation of the Indiana Venture Center, so local entrepreneurs can stay in Indiana to be successful.

The Indiana Venture Center, the first public-private partnership in the nation involving multiple universities and the private sector, was developed to assist a variety of local business founders, such as entrepreneurs taking high-potential ideas to market, owners of rapidly growing companies needing assistance with expansion efforts, and leaders of large, established firms who are interested in implementing innovative ideas. The focus of the Indiana Venture Center’s efforts will be high-potential, technology-related firms and ideas.

According to Hatfield, an alumnus of IU’s Kelley School of Business-Indianapolis and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the Indiana Venture Center will provide a much needed network of support for entrepreneurs. He co-founded and was chief operating officer of Cerent Corp., a high-speed optical transport company that was sold in 1999 to Cisco Systems. He is founder and currently chief strategy officer of Calix Inc., of Petaluma, Calif.

“The state of Indiana has lost many of its brightest business minds, because it did not have a supportive environment for start-ups and fast growing young firms,” Hatfield said. “This center will match investors with businesses that need funding and offer an array of consulting support, such as basic research and marketing and financial advice. It will also help individuals refine their ideas and turn them into successful business plans.”

Besides Hatfield’s individual contribution, the CICP will provide $500,000 to the center.

“The Indiana Venture Center will be instrumental in moving Indiana from the brain drain to the brain magnet category,” said Anne Shane, project director-Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative for CICP. “It is crucial for Indiana’s economy to grow jobs in advanced manufacturing, technology and life sciences. That means we need to have an environment where people who have new ideas can flourish. The Indiana Venture Center can help make this happen.”

One of the components of the center is the collaboration among statewide schools that normally compete for students and funds. Each member institution will serve on the center’s governing board: IU’s Kelley School of Business; Purdue’s Krannert School of Business; Notre Dame; Ball State and Rose-Hulman.

Leading the collaboration will be Steven Beck, founder of the Indianapolis office of Old National Bank, who has left his senior vice presidency there to direct the center. Beck developed the Ball State University entrepreneurship class, “Financing for the Growing Venture,” which he taught for 16 years. In 1996, he was the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Indiana, and he is a two-time winner of the Indiana Banker-of-the-Year award.

The Indiana Venture Center will be located in Indianapolis near the IUPUI campus.