Tim Rowe to the US Senate Small Business Committee: Entrepreneurship Can Renew America's Economy

As the CEO and Founder of the Cambridge Innovation Center , Tim has substantial experience and expertise in the area of startups and the successful growth of small business. He spoke to the importance of a vibrant startup community in creating jobs and spurring economic growth and offered several specific policy recommendations in order to further support the growth of startups and entrepreneurship.  Tim is an extraordinary voice for the startup community both in Massachusetts and nation-wide.

A transcript of his full testimony (as written) is here:

Thank you for inviting me to speak today. As you know, I am the CEO and Founder of Cambridge Innovation Center. CIC houses approximately 450 startup companies in a 150,000 square foot office tower in Kendall Square, Cambridge. We are told that CIC has more startups under one roof than any other building on the planet. More than a billion dollars have been invested in these companies, and we have been a launch-pad for several well-known companies, most famously Google Android.

This past December I was asked by my peers in Massachusetts to speak for our state’s innovation community at the Startup America summit at the White House. The ideas abstracted here come from a broad group of Massachusetts startup leaders.

We believe startups are at the root of restoring the US to full economic health. As is now well known, US Census Bureau and the Kauffman Foundation published findings recently that say that over the last quarter century all net new jobs (and then some) in the United States have come from companies five years old and younger. Existing firms (that is, those 6 years old and older) collectively lost jobs during that same quarter-century period analyzed (1980 to 2005). For every job lost by existing firms, new firms generated three. It seems clear that supporting startups and entrepreneurship is the key to job creation.

How to do so is a legitimate question for debate. My colleagues and I, however, have settled on five concrete suggestions: ideas worth exploring. The policy changes that follow have the potential to make a difference:

1. Reform visa laws: Many startups are led by bright young people who come here to study from overseas. Yet our laws force most such people to go home. Let’s change visa laws to make it easier for foreign-born students who earn degrees from US universities to stay and start companies in the US. They will not take American jobs, they will create American jobs.

2. Streamline IPOs: Startups typically require investment to get going. To be willing to invest, investors need a way to get their money back, typically through a public stock offering (and IPO). Yet today’s laws make it very hard for smaller, new companies to go public. Let’s change laws to create an “on ramp” to being a public company, by reducing paperwork requirements for the first 5 years after an IPO.

3. Enable crowdfunding of startups: Another way to help startups is to make it easier for everyday people to support would-be entrepreneurs. Yet today its illegal for a bunch of everyday people to pool funds to help someone get a startup going. In other countries, they call this micro-finance, and it is a major force for change. Let’s change laws to permit crowd-funding of startups in the US. Valid concerns about fraud must and can be addressed as we do this.

4. Ban non-compete agreements: We all studied in school that “labor mobility” is key to a healthy economy. Yet the proliferation of the use of “non-compete agreements” has made it much harder to start new companies. And for some, such agreements amount to indentured servitude (e.g. I am forced to stay with my company, because I can’t take another job in my chosen field). Many states already ban these agreements. And those states that ban them have more startups. Let’s change laws to ban non-compete agreements in employment agreements. While this has traditionally been a state-by-state issue, there is a valid role for the federal government to fix this.

5. Retrain US workforce to meet changing demands: We have thousands of unfilled jobs, despite today’s high unemployment. Insiders at community colleges admit that there is no tight link between what the market needs, and what they teach. Yet the shortage of qualified tech employees holds back the creation of more startups. This is a fixable problem, and other countries address it head on. Let’s focus the government’s workforce development programs on training the workforce needed for the new Millennium. We should not have both high unemployment and hundreds of thousands of unfilled job openings, particularly in tech fields, such as software developer jobs.

There are bills already in front of Congress to address #1, #2, and #3 above. We are hopeful that the Senate will find some of these proposals to have merit, and that they will work to enact them.

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The Cambridge Innovation Center is a real anchor of the innovation and entrepreneurship community in Massachusetts. Companies that are located inside the Center and run by PBLN member execs include Extension Engine and Sustainability Roundtable, Inc., led by CEOs Bob Allard and Jim Boyle, respectively.

In Massachusetts, Governor Patrick is calling for a centralized authority for the 15 campuses, a greater emphasis on job training, and a $10 million increase in funding for community colleges that he would like to see matched by $10 million from businesses.

These are not new issues, but the dramatic proposals by the Governor follow months of recent concern. In November, The Boston Foundation released its report “The Case for Community Colleges: Aligning Higher Education and Workforce Needs in Massachusetts” which lays out strong data about the failure of the challenges facing the state’s community colleges and the weaknesses of the highly de-centralized organization of the “system.” The Boston Foundation called for reforms including a more centralized, unified, system and better alignment between curriculum and the needs of industry.

Is this an issue for our organization? Absolutely. Within 24 hours of his speech announcing the project, we joined Governor Patrick , Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and a small group of business and legislative leaders to brainstorm about how to make these changes happen this year. In a press release from the Governor’s office, PBLN Executive Director and President Andrew Tarsy was quoted as saying, “This could not come at a better time and will be a shot in the arm for the economy. We fully support increased funding tied to substantial updates to the structure and alignment of community colleges in Massachusetts. There are many companies ready to be a full partner on this project with the Governor and with the colleges themselves.”

PBLN Board member Kip Hollister, (CEO, Hollister) is co-chairing the organization's effort on workforce development

PBLN Board Member Kip Hollister will be leading PBLN’s focus in this area along with David Belluck of Riverside Partners. Kip was quoted in the Governor’s announcement saying that “[w]orkforce development must be a top priority in 2012 and beyond. There is a clear competency gap and reform at the community colleges can only help us develop and retain talent in Massachusetts. This is a fundamental jobs issue and a big step in the right direction.”

Where does it go from here? The biggest challenge will be making sure the college leadership teams see this as an opportunity to become stronger and more prominent and important than ever in the core strategy of the region. If instead this becomes a political turf war, the whole purpose will be lost.  This makes the role of business even more important. If employers play a serious role in the future of these colleges, the success that results will lift everyone.

President Obama captured the heart of the matter in the State of the Union address, placing this issue at the center of the national agenda: “Join me in a national commitment to train two million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job. My Administration has already lined up more companies that want to help. Model partnerships between businesses like Siemens and community colleges in places like Charlotte, Orlando, and Louisville are up and running. Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers – places that teach people skills that local businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.”

Sounds like a call to action. We are glad to hear it and eager to answer it.

Title: Membership Manager

Reports to: President/Executive Director

Summary: Seeking a passionate, entrepreneurial and experienced relationship-builder and sales professional seeking a career of purpose who can help bring leaders together to revitalize and redefine the role of business in society.

Job Objectives:

Build the roster of C-level executive members, sponsors and major donors necessary to achieve the mission of this non-profit organization. Effectively convey that participating in and contributing to the organization is a compelling opportunity for business leaders. Ignite the network of participating leaders into action.

Job Description:

The right candidate is passionate about having a life and career of purpose, and is a proven leader, sales professional, relationship builder, fund-raiser and communicator with a strong presence as well as strong operations and management skills. S/He is particularly interested in and motivated by contributing to a collaborative, no excuses, goal-oriented environment with colleagues whose experiences include many disciplines and backgrounds.

This professional establishes plans and strategies to expand the membership, sponsor and donor base and contributes to the overall management and stewardship of the organization. S/He is responsible for cultivation of and sales to prospective and existing members, sponsors and donors to support growth in line with the organization’s vision and values. S/He is also responsible for managing the administration of member, donor and prospect databases for tracking and reporting. At the outset, S/He will supervise 1.5 FTEs of operations and administrative staff with the opportunity to grow a larger team over time.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and administer a plan for prospect identification, cultivation and sales that meets organization’s financial and membership goals.
• Provide timely feedback to senior management on progress against goals.
• Maintain accurate records of all transactions, sales, and activity reports.
• Create and conduct pitches and proposal presentations.
• Assist others on staff in preparation of proposals and presentations.
• Control expenses to meet budget guidelines.
• Adhere to all organization policies, procedures and business ethics codes and ensure that they are communicated and implemented within department.
• Maintain and track contact with all members, sponsors and donors to ensure high levels of satisfaction, renewal and increased support and engagement.
• Demonstrate ability to interact and cooperate with all organization employees, members, sponsors, donors, partners and other stakeholders.

Job Specifications:

• 5-7+ years of experience in sales/recruitment in a business or membership organization.
• Proven track record of exceeding objectives in a sales organization as a sales person and as a manager responsible for developing targets and strategies.
• Experience with database programs including Salesforce, Constant Contact, EventBrite, Excel, WordPress, Access and other related operations systems for managing a sales, membership management and fundraising operation.
• Compensation commensurate with experience, linked to incentives and reflective of our early-stage non-profit status. Lots of room to grow.

Interested? For more information about the organization visit www.pbln.org. Respond by email only including cover letter and resume to info@pbln.org.

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Title: Communications Manager

Reports to: President/Executive Director

Summary: Seeking a passionate, entrepreneurial, versatile and experienced communications professional who can help a vibrant start-up organization to revitalize and redefine the role of business leadership in society.

Job Objective:

Effectively convey our key messages to multiple audiences including existing and prospective members and funders, political, governmental, non-profit and business sectors, and diverse media segments.

Job Description

The right candidate is passionate about having a life and career of purpose, and is a proven leader, communications professional, and relationship builder, with both strong presence and strong operations skills. S/He is particularly interested in contributing to a collaborative, no excuses, goal-oriented environment with colleagues whose experience cuts across many disciplines and backgrounds. Job requires creation of systems and platforms that do not yet exist as well as operation and improvement of current platforms.

Responsibilities:

This professional establishes and implements plans and strategies to deliver our message to our target audiences.

• Manages all communications functions against goals and objectives
• Produces regular stakeholder communications at highest professional standard
• Maintains relationships with media to advance the work of the organization
• Provides timely feedback to senior management on progress against goals.
• Assists others on staff in preparation of proposals, presentations and events
• Controls expenses to meet budget guidelines.
• Adheres to all organization policies, procedures and business ethics codes and ensures that they are communicated and implemented within the team.
• Demonstrates ability to interact and cooperate with all organization employees, members, sponsors, donors, partners and other stakeholders.

Job Specifications

• 5 years of experience in communications working in public affairs, traditional and social media, website management, marketing and messaging in a business, association and/or campaign environment.
• Experience with database programs including Salesforce, Constant Contact, EventBrite, Excel, WordPress, Powerpoint, Access and other related systems.
• Passion for the mission, excitement about being part of a team and experience with change-making organization activities
• We offer compensation commensurate with experience, linked to incentives and reflective of our early-stage non-profit status.
• Lots of room to grow.
• Willing to consider contract and part time if there is otherwise an excellent fit.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick arriving in Sao Paulo, Brazil with the delegation 

I recently had a chance to sit down with Andy Tarsy, President and Executive Director of PBLN, to discuss his recent trip to Brazil with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick as part of a December 2011 trade mission. As a local entrepreneur, Brazil’s recent economic growth and its close ties to Massachusetts are topics of great interest to me. The pre-trip blog post by PBLN had some good data points and the generally supportive media coverage was a good start but I began hounding Andy for a more detailed trip report upon his return.

The first big question: what did the trip accomplish? Andy described the mission’s main objective by quoting Governor Patrick. “As the Governor told the delegates in preparation for the visit, ‘In Massachusetts, our door faces the street.’ What I think he means by that is that our economy is directly integrated into the global economy and we have to actively maintain those connecting points to protect our own strategy for sustainable growth.”

Andy described success on several levels. In the most tangible sense, there were deals made and agreements reached. In what areas? Agriculture, oceanography and higher education for starters. There were strong leads on new investors, partners, customers and distributors for some Massachusetts companies, and reciprocal dividends for their Brazilian counterparts. Perhaps more important for the long term, there was a deepening of the awareness in Brazil of opportunities to partner with US and specifically Massachusetts entities in business, government and higher education. Andy said, “to the extent we measure success by fruitful relationships that will get meaningful follow-up in the next 3 to 6 months, the trip was an unqualified success. The world is in Brazil and Brazil is looking to the world for the expertise and partnerships that will sustain its growth. Our timing was perfect.”

Two Massachusetts CEOs present at a Sao Paulo forum on entrepreneurship. Marcia Fournier (CEO, BIOARRAY Therapeutics) and Priyanka Bakaya (CEO, PK Clean) (L to R).

Rio de Janeiro seen from the Tavares Bastos Favela, one of several low-income areas where increased safety and opportunity for the chronically poor is apparent. Its young residents are the workforce and the engineers of Brazil's future.

Palpable optimism – that was what Andy reported encountering more than anything else in Brazil. It is a country experiencing well-documented high growth at a time when many others are going through unprecedented economic challenges. Andy relayed a strong impression that entrepreneurs, government leaders, and big business types in Brazil universally seemed to believe anything is possible. In the US we complain about the strong partisan dynamic that dominates Washington where everything is see as either Republican or Democrat. We also see too often a dynamic in American business of seeing a sharp dichotomy of only cost centers and profit opportunities. If Brazil is any model, it may be because of the country’s readiness to leverage collaboration between the public and private sectors for shared goals.

Just a few of the technology start-ups participating in an incubator at a major Rio university

Brazil was Governor Patrick’s fourth trade mission and the third where PBLN has been asked to participate.  PBLN members represented five of the participants on the trip.  The Governor opened three slots directly to PBLN which was represented by Andy along with Florian Hunziker (COO of Harmonix Music Systems) and Linda Moulton (CEO of Ceralta Technologies). Other PBLN members on the trip included Kirk Sykes (President of the USA Fund) and Winston Henderson (VP and General Counsel of NanoTerra).

PBLN members Winston Henderson (left) and Linda Moulton (right) with fellow delegate Helene Solomon

The timing for the Brazil mission could not have been better.  Brazil has become an economic powerhouse.  It has almost full employment, very little debt, a balanced budget and is projected by PriceWaterhouse Coopers to surpass both the U.K. and France in GDP by 2013, putting it in the top five economies in the world.  Brazil is considered a model for the modern energy economy.  Through innovations in deep water drilling, it became oil independent in 2006, it gets 90% of its electricity from hydroelectric plants and is a pioneer in ethanol, so much so that ethanol powered vehicles don’t advertise that fact anywhere on the cars; it’s simply a given.

Other key learnings: Healthcare? It is a fundamental constitutional right in Brazil although there is ongoing debate and litigation around whether that right has any clear limits. The economy? Brazil’s central bank has been critical to its growth managing a steady but low rate of inflation and that along with a progressive income tax structure has helped lower the income gap and grow the middle class.

There are enormous challenges, too, but challenges mean opportunity and with collaboration from its global trade partners, the opportunities are large for Brazil. Here are some more takeaways:

• Brazil has a growing middle class but one where workforce skills and even basic education is far behind some countries with similar economic power. Much of the country still has a 4-hour school day if kids are present at all, and learning in many of the school systems is limited.
  

  Mass Challenge co-founder and CEO John Harthorne with PBLN's Andy Tarsy

• Brazil’s government is committed to funding 100,000 university students to study abroad over the next few years.  This presents a huge opportunity for US universities.
• Brazil has produced a huge amount of research with 2.7% of the world’s scientific publications originating in Brazil but it lags significantly in technology transfer. Brazil has less than 0.1% of the world’s patents.
  

  Governor Patrick with American Well CEO Ido Schoenberg at the residence of the US Ambassador to Brazil in Brasilia

• Brazilian innovations in energy could have dramatic improvement in the US through collaboration.  Our entrepreneurs and universities are innovating at a rapid rate in the energy sector but the U.S. has been slow to deploy these innovations at scale.  The Brazilian market is ripe for our energy technologies and some of their proven technologies could bring immediate impact to our energy challenges.
• The large middle class in Brazil represents a huge buying power. There were companies represented on the trade mission making serious moves toward reaching new customers in Brazil.
• Massachusetts has the largest population of Brazilians in the U.S. and so there are natural ties and opportunities to create new relationships to bring Massachusetts products and services to Brazil.
  

  Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne Goldstein and Bridgewater State University President Dana Mohler-Faria visit a Rio de Janeiro primary school

Andy and PBLN are doing great work to foster collaboration between the public and private sector here in Massachusetts, to create meaningful conversation around healthcare, energy and job creation and most importantly to turn that conversation and collaboration into action.  This trip revealed that in Brazil, similar conversations and action planning are well underway. If we can harness the same kind of optimism and commit to growing via collaboration and partnership, anything is possible.

Tom Dretler, who is PBLN's Board Chair was CEO of Eduventures, Inc. during the March 2011 Trade Mission to the UK led by Governor Patrick. Tom (seated, center) announced an Eduventures joint venture in London during the trip, and was joined in the announcement by Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki (standing).

Joining me representing PBLN in the delegation are Ceralta Technologies CEO Linda Moulton, Harmonix Music System CEO Florian Hunziker, and NanoTerra Vice President and General Counsel Winston Henderson. Kirk Sykes, president of the Urban Strategy America Fund, a New Boston fund and Mass Challenge CEO John Harthorne, who are also PBLN members, are on the delegation as well.

Governor Patrick recently hosted a meeting at the State House in Boston with Brazilian Ambassador to the United States Mauro Vieira and Consul General of Brazil in Boston, Ambassador Fernando de Mello Barreto. It yielded the following nuggets in my notebook:

• Inflation is now 5.8%, down from 2300% in 1993
• Brazil has $350B in monetary reserves
• Unemployment is 6.2% (No Typo)
• Positive economic outlook is rooted in the work of two consecutive governments and 2 main points: (1) macro-economic stablization; (2) emphasis on strengthening the middle class, which paid off in the form of a very strong domestic market during the peak of the global financial crisis. Brazil has the fastest growing middle class on the planet
• A point of particular pride is that only 10% of GDP is from exports (same as the US, he said)
• Last year the Brazilian economy grew 7.5%
• Trade with Massachusetts is $400M/year
• The Brazilian government will fund 75,000 students to study abroad in the next four years, half in the US
• The largest US based Brazilian community is in Massachusetts
• Brazil is expecting $50B of investment due to the Soccer World Cup in 2012 and the Olympics in 2016

If you know Brazil, what lessons are there for the creation of a more sustainable US and global economy? What examples or lessons are there of government and business defining a shared agenda and collaborating with civil society to achieve it? These are some of the questions I will be looking to answer, for the benefit of all sides and all parties.

Keep an eye here for more from the mission – and please share your comments freely.

Looking for more about PBLN? Click here or email me at Andy at pbln dot org.

Energy and the Environment

In November, PBLN was invited to testify at the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Green Communities Oversight Hearing. PBLN’s panel was comprised of Roger Freeman, of Solventerra LLC, Glynn Lloyd of City Fresh Foods and Andy Tarsy. The Green Communities Act has been in effect since 2008 and includes a wide range of policies and initiatives that aim to lessen the Commonwealth’s dependence on fossil fuel and encourage the development of alternative and renewable energy sources. The Green Communities Act is widely viewed as nationally leading energy efficiency legislation and sets some of the strictest standards for greenhouse gas emissions. The hearing was a great opportunity for PBLN to endorse continued and full implementation of the Green Communities Act and highlight the Act’s critical role creating a competitive clean energy industry in the Commonwealth. PBLN’s testimony is available here.

How Can We Prepare the Workforce of the Future?

In October, PBLN was joined by Kim Dukes-River, Founder & Principal of Diversity Staffing Pros, LLC in testifying on the Middle Skills Solutions Act (a fact sheet on the legislation is available here) before the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. Middle skill jobs, classified as jobs requiring more than a high school diploma, but less than a four year degree, represent 45% of the current jobs in Massachusetts and a significant portion of the future jobs. It is estimated that 40% of all job openings between now and 2016 will be middle skill jobs. The Middle Skills Solutions Act would build upon existing resources and help facilitate greater communication between employers and educational institutions to help narrow the current skills gap. PBLN strongly supports measures that seek to better align the training our workforce receives with the skills needed to fill the growing middle skills job opportunities. Appropriate training of our workforce is critical to the growth of the Commonwealth’s economy. Read PBLN’s testimony here.

As PBLN builds our agenda for aligning the skills of our workforce with the skills needed by employers, we are working with business leaders, policymakers, and nonprofits on this critical issue. In the last few weeks, The Boston Foundation and the Boston Healthcare Careers Consortium released reports about the vital role that community colleges play in preparing our future workforce. Take a look at the following reports and let us know what you think by posting a response here on our blog.

• ” The Case for Community Colleges: Aligning Higher Education and Workforce Needs in Massachusetts,”  The Boston Foundation, November 2011.
•  ” Critical Collaboration: Improving Education and Training Pathways to Careers in Health Care,” Boston Healthcare Careers Consortium, November 2011.

A Step Back for School Lunches: Pizza and French Fries are here to stay

On November 18th, President Obama signed an omnibus spending bill approved by Congress that included a provision blocking the Department of Agriculture from implementing new school lunch standards that would have required more fruits and vegetables to be served in schools. The changes would have limited servings of white potatoes and starchy vegetables to one cup per week and would have prevented tomato paste from being considered a vegetable. PBLN Charter Member Glynn Lloyd, CEO of City Fresh Foods responded to the changes on WBUR and through a letter to the editor in the Globe. City Fresh Foods, which serves nutritious meals to 3,500 students per day in the Greater Boston area, is well acquainted with the challenges of delivering healthy meals on a tight budget. Yet, City Fresh Foods already limits white potatoes to no more than once per week and their whole-wheat pizza is served with two additional servings of vegetables. In his letter to the editor, Glynn points out that any savings we see now for serving less nutritious food will only result in more health care costs in the future.

Several top executives who are also PBLN members are champions for the extraordinary potential and often overlooked value that veterans can bring to a job in the innovation economy. Tom Pincince, President and CEO of Digital Lumens, and Jim Matheson, General Partner of Flagship Ventures, recently made the case for hiring veterans on the New England Cable News (NECN) program CEO Corner:

Pincince, who has hired many veterans and blogs about it on his company site, and Matheson, who is a former Navy pilot and TOP GUN instructor, state that military training yields a mission-driven, problem-solving and project-completion approach that plays out as a dream in the workplace, especially a lean-staffed start-up.

It’s your turn to weigh-in. Have you hired military veterans? Are there particular qualities they have brought to your team? Would you consider tapping into available resources to seek qualified applicants with a military background or would you post links to those resources here if you have them?

PBLN: What is your company and your role?
PE: Recombinant Data focuses on the secondary use of electronic health data—basically healthcare business intelligence—across a wide range of areas from medical research to improving the quality and cost of clinical care. Health data has been very paper-based compared to other industries and the healthcare system has lacked many of the market incentives seen elsewhere. As a result, health systems are way behind in terms of analyzing data for performance and health outcome improvement. However, there’s been a big federal push for the adoption electronic medical records and sudden demand for better analytics because financial incentives are shifting under the health reform initiatives. That has created a perfect storm around the need for “clinical intelligence”—information systems that aggregate the disparate components of health data into a single data warehouse to answer the many questions facing health providers and medical researchers today. That’s what Recombinant does and where our name originated—“recombining” data to create new forms of information).

As CEO, I have ultimate responsibility for the business, but I also play an active role in customer engagements. As a Harvard Law grad with a background in HIPAA and related health privacy and research rules I’m able to help customers navigate the issues of multiple secondary data use across a health system or academic medical center—and especially multi-institution collaborations.

PBLN: What product or service does your business provide?
PE: Because electronic healthcare data is still evolving it tends to be locked in proprietary EMR systems and can be very “dirty”, with lots of manual entry, unstructured text, and inconsistencies across different platforms. This has led to frustration with some business intelligence technology solutions because as everyone knows, garbage in creates garbage out. Lots of vendors have built really nice analytic tools that would be quite helpful if the data was reliable, but usually it’s not and therefore the tools aren’t trustworthy. Recognizing this, we started at the other end of the problem, focusing first on data quality rather than data usage. We built our healthcare data warehouse product—our “Data Trust”—from the ground up to deal with data quality issues. That’s a key differentiator for our business.

In terms of data usage, we developed clinical intelligence software that allows users to run reports and interrogate the data for their needs. We started out by building a quality reporting system for Partners HealthCare called “Report Central” which we licensed out. We subsequently built a new dashboard platform called “Selectrus” that now serves as our core product on the healthcare provider space. Medical researchers face many of the same challenges around access to data, but with additional complications created by HIPAA and the need for data de-identification. Fortunately, the NIH has funded marquee institutions like Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston to create a variety of open source platforms and tools that address these challenges. And, while having open source software is useful for many reasons, it’s more valuable if there’s a commercial vendor supporting the platforms—and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve become the “Red Hat” support arm for many key open source initiatives which has helped our business grow without the need for capital. Essentially the NIH funds the development of free software that we support, and it drives strong demand for data.

Lastly, we provide a variety of consulting services around data strategy, governance, and compliance. We have some of the leading experts from around the country who we plucked from institutions like the Mayo Clinic and UCSF.

PBLN: What metrics can you share to give a sense of the size of your company e.g. number of employees, revenue, etc.?
PE: In four years Recombinant has grown from a four person Boston-area boutique firm with $500K of revenue to a nationally known company with 80 full-time employees, over 50 customers, and $10M of revenue. We are 100% organically grown with no VC money or angel investors which means we’ve had to be profitable all along the way. This discipline has helped us stay focused on delivering real value to our customers, but it also limits the scope of our strategic plans because we are highly undercapitalized in relation to our competitors like Oracle and IBM.

PBLN: What do you think sets your company apart?
PE: Recombinant is recognized for its “black belt” expertise in the field of healthcare data warehousing—especially large-scale research systems. Our products and repeatable processes have been proven time and again at institutions across the United States, and the impact of a 100% referenceable client base has been substantial, but in the end people are attracted to us in large part due to our core values—particularly pragmatism. You don’t see a lot of companies who’s #1 core value is pragmatism, but in the field of healthcare data, it’s essential, and we measure ourselves (including our annual reviews) on our pragmatism. People like that about us.

PBLN: Are there ways that the success of your business contributes to addressing key challenges facing our society and economy?
PE: As I’m sure everyone knows, the costs of healthcare are having a major impact on the U.S. economy and our ability to be competitive in the global economy. To fix this type of complex problem you need data to analyze operations and measure improvements, and this is directly in line with Recombinant’s mission. However, there’s another area of focus that gets less attention, but is equally important for us, and that’s improving medical research. The NIH and other government agencies have put millions upon millions of dollars toward medical research, but the feeling is that very little of that money has translated into better health outcomes for patients. As a result, there’s a strong push now to improve the translation of research into better practice, and we are equally focused on that challenge.

PBLN: The country is rightly focused on the problem of high long-term unemployment. What kinds of jobs is your business likely to create either directly or indirectly?
PE: Healthcare is one of few fields with growing employment opportunities today, and health information in particular will be an area of continued need. We have been consistently recruiting for technical positions, project management roles, and other traditional software roles—but preferably with health data experience, because health data is different from financial services, etc. We’ve seen a lot of people trying to break into healthcare from other verticals, but it’s difficult for us as a small company to take risks on inexperienced professionals.

PBLN: There is a serious skills gap for some jobs that remain vacant. Is recruiting a challenge for your company? In what kinds of jobs?
PE: Recruiting people experienced in bioinformatics is challenging. The pool of qualified candidates is small, and we’re seeking the top talent in the field. But, we’ve also had difficulty filling main-stream technical positions like ETL developers who have heath data knowledge, and have hired a number of individuals on work visas because of the shortage of qualified U.S. candidates. Since building the bio-economy is one of the main opportunities for growth—in Massachusetts in particular—programs designed to promote these skill areas would fill a clear need.

PBLN: How do you see government action or any particular public policy helping or hindering the growth of your company or your ability to succeed?
PE: Health reform is an obvious issue for us since businesses shoulder so much of the healthcare cost burden. Massachusetts is ahead of most states in the area of reform, but on a national level the politicization and gridlock in D.C. is demoralizing. We see the misalignment of incentives in the industry, and witness situations where cost-lowering opportunities are avoided in order to maintain revenue. Another blocker for any small business is access to capital. We have grown organically and created 80 jobs along the way without any state or federal assistance, but it would accelerate our ability to create more jobs if more capital was available.

PBLN: Do you see a role for business leadership in helping to create a more sustainable economy and if so, what kinds of actions do you think would be effective?
PE: As we’ve seen from the pent up frustration surfaced by groups like Occupy Wall Street, business leaders must play a role and take responsibility across a variety of issues. We have to bring our voice to the front before others speak for us.

PBLN: What do you hope to get out of the PBLN Summit on November 10?
PE: I look forward to contributing to thoughtful discussions about improving healthcare and engaging in the critical dialogue around how the private sector can be a player in the social and economic issues facing us all.

 Thanks, Peter! 

If you want to hear more from Peter Emerson and other prominent healthcare executives and experts, make sure to check out the panel: Health Promotion and Cost Containment: Can Private Sector Innovation Lead to a Healthier Economy?, at the PBLN CEO Summit at UMass Boston on November 10th!
Want Executives like Peter Emerson to know what you think? We encourage you to weigh in on this and any other post on by commenting our blog. 

At a previous PBLN Summit: Paul Sagan (R) and Joshua Boger (L) PBLN Board members and entrepreneurial forces to be reckoned with from Akamai and Vertex, respectively

This is an open thread for comments as we prepare for PBLN’s 5th annual CEO Summit. Our focus is on how visionary entrepreneurship and public policy can align to spur economic growth and job creation.

At our Summit Thursday we will ask top execs from Organogenesis, HouseWorks, Vertex, Panera Bread Company, XTalic, Digital Lumens, First Wind, OakTree Developers and more.

For now, it’s Your turn. Can entrepreneurs create jobs on the scale the US requires? For this year and the next decade? What is required from the C Suite, the lender and investor communities, and the government to make it happen? What are the key obstacles to growth for you and what solutions do you propose?

Please identify yourself too – your role/company/experience – thanks.

PBLN: What is your company and your role?
CC: My company is Merida Meridian and I am the CEO.

PBLN: What product or service does your company provide?
CC: We are a textile design company focused on sustainable design. We provide design services from concept to finished product for floor covering—area rugs are our specialty.

PBLN: What metrics can you share to give a sense of the size of your company?
CC: We are a privately held company so we do not disclose our revenues but we have approximately 50 employees.

PBLN: What do you think sets your company apart?
CC: Our focus on sustainable design and our design and manufacturing capabilities. We have two facilities—one in Boston for finishing our rugs and a large weaving facility in Fall River where we manufacture rugs (see article in yesterday’s addition of New England Home, Merida Mystique)

PBLN: Are there ways that the success of your business contributes to key challenges facing our economy and our society?
CC: Absolutely. Our mission is to be a leader in sustainable design—addressing how people consume, how companies engage the communities within which they work and our impact on the earth for future generations. On the first, we are committed to creating beautiful, well-designed products that are sustainable. We want to work on the false idea that you have to either choose beautiful and affordable or sustainable as we believe you can deliver both. In terms of how companies engage the communities—we are committed to making an impact in all the communities in which we work—starting here at home with our own employees and the Boston community and working with all our partners worldwide from the Philippines to Brazil to ensure that workers have a strong and healthy environment in which they can grow, learn and contribute in meaningful ways. On the earth, we are constantly working on our products, our facilities and our business to ensure that we are mindful of the future impact on the earth. We have started with the raw materials that comprise our rugs. All of these materials are sustainable—they come from rapidly replenishable resources and we are constantly working on the processing part to reduce any negative impact to the earth. Like all companies, nothing is perfect but we are constantly striving to improve.

PBLN: The country is rightly focused on the problem of long-term unemployment. What kinds of jobs is your business likely to create both directly and indirectly?
CC: We have been growing and we are adding jobs in a few areas: Highly skilled weavers, laborers who help assemble and finish our area rugs, and sales and marketing professionals and design professionals who are helping us extend our product portfolio and build our brand.

PBLN: There is a serious skills gap for some jobs that remain vacant. Is recruiting a challenge for your company? In what kinds of jobs?
CC: We have not experienced trouble with hiring for the most part

PBLN: How do you see government action or any particular public policy helping or hindering the growth of your company to succeed?
CC: I think it would be great for the government to look at small businesses who are manufacturing in the US to see if there are ways to provide incentives for training, reducing health care costs, technology investments etc. We are definitely competing against factories in Asia and Latin America and it is very difficult to remain competitive especially being in Massachusetts.

PBLN: Do you see a role for business leadership in helping create a more sustainable economy and if so what kinds of actions do you think would be effective?
CC: I absolutely believe there is a role for business in creating a sustainable economy since that is what we are doing every day. I am increasingly working with other like-minded companies and there are many exciting things going on for companies who are focused on creating meaningful work for their employees and a handprint that will leave the earth in better shape then we found it. Specifically, I think companies can start to look at the goals of their company and how they map on to the shareholders. We think of a pentad when we think of our shareholders—customers, co-creators (employees and suppliers), the earth, the community and the investors. We are constantly trying to assess how we can add value in all of these contexts. I have been fortunate to work talk with many leaders who are making great strides in building a focus on a sustainable economy and it is very exciting. They tend to be the companies that are growing in this economy as well

PBLN: What do you hope to get out of the PBLN Summit on November 10?
CC: I am hoping to find out what the business community in Massachusetts if focusing on and how the government is working with local business leaders to create more growth in our local businesses. I spend more time working with customers and suppliers around the world than in Boston so I am hoping to learn more about the local business community.

And that’s only scratching the surface of it all! If you want to hear more from Ms. Connolly and other CEOs and Executives, make sure you don’t miss PBLN’s Annual CEO Summit at UMass Boston on November 9th – 10th!

(Special thanks to PBLN Intern and Suffolk University student Jibran Malek for curating this series of blog-posts)