Innovative Product Grants Will Help Create 34 New Jobs in Emerging Technology Sector
CHICAGO – Continuing his efforts to support businesses engaged in the high technology and homeland security industries throughout Illinois, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today announced $445,000 in Opportunity Returns funding to four Chicago-based companies to commercialize new software that can be used to enhance homeland security efforts. The grants will help these companies create 34 new jobs over the next two years and retain 17 jobs. The funding is being provided through the Innovative Product Grant (IPG) Program administered by Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s (DCEO) Homeland Security Market Development (HSMD) bureau. IPG is the nation’s first state-funded grant program focused on developing products to meet homeland security needs.
“Today’s economy centers on innovation and advancing new and existing technologies that will create a safer, cleaner, healthier and more efficient world. These four companies are excellent examples of utilizing already successful products and developing new, important applications that will make them even more marketable. By investing in emerging companies that are investing in Illinois, we are helping them meet the ongoing challenges in the homeland security industry and create high-paying, high-tech Illinois jobs,” Gov. Blagojevich said.
The following companies are receiving grants:
Cognitor provides Solutions for Service Management, enabling customer service and support organizations to optimize their service lifecycle from the first call to a support center to the delivery of parts and service in the field. The company will use this $120,000 IPG grant to commercialize its Transportation Security System (TSS), which will integrate Cognitor’s Agile Service Management Suite into a user friendly product that captures and presents data from the multiple systems at use in transit systems. Cognitor’s TSS will intelligently monitor service operations of major metropolitan public transportation systems and help to show potentially harmful trends or developing emergencies before they become major incidents. The grant will help the company create six new jobs and retain two over the next two years. For more information on the company visit www.cognitor.com – Nik Rokop – 312/463.1300.
Information Development Consultants (iDC) is a 25 year-old, software/technology firm that provides advanced financial management and citizen centric software to government and not-for-profit users. iDC will use this $125,000 IPG grant to add new emergency management and continuity of government functions to its 4gov® Financial Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software application for local government. 4gov is a secure, web-based software application that cities use to perform budgeting, accounting, payroll, billing and collection and other key functions. This grant project will allow iDC to add new security and emergency management functions. iDC has a nationwide customer base of almost 100 government users/buyers. The grant will help the company create nine new jobs over the next two years and retain 13. For more information on the company visit www.4idc.com – Carolyne Turner – 312/464.1020.
Intellext is a privately-held software company that will use this $100,000 IPG grant to commercialize “Watson for Intelligence Analysis.” The new version of Watson, which proactively finds relevant information based on the context of a user’s work, will incorporate retrieval of evidence-related information from the web and proprietary government databases. This will allow law enforcement or national security intelligence analysts to draw up evidence related to perpetrators and suspects, crime locations, crimes involving property and crimes involving vehicles. “Watson for Intelligence Analysis” is being developed in consultation with a representative of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and other homeland security users. The grant will help the company create seven new jobs over the next two years. For more information on the company, visit www.intellext.com – Jay Budzik – 312/896.2200.
TransLumen Technologies creates proprietary and patented visual display technologies for software, firmware and content. The company will use this $100,000 IPG grant to enhance its v-INDICATOR™ peripheral awareness software product for use by defense and homeland security systems integrators. TransLumen will use the grant to prototype, test and prove software, serving as a visualization tool that gives a user enhanced monitoring capability reducing the operators’ workload and increasing situation awareness by decluttering the screen, and improving decision-making. Users include aerospace, the U.S. Department of Defense, and municipal emergency centers in the areas of command and control, security and surveillance, Future Combat Systems, and unmanned aerial and ground vehicles. The company will create 12 new jobs and retain two over the next two years. For more information on the company visit www.translumen.net – Carol Sherman – 312/337.8099.
“In order to boost the economy, we must help our growing companies identify new markets and opportunities to continue advancing technologies and turning them into successful products in the marketplace. Gov. Blagojevich and I are committed to making investments like these that help make us secure and create more good jobs,” State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) said.
“Illinois continues to extend its leadership position in the homeland security industry, in large part because of Gov. Blagojevich’s commitment to help companies meet the ongoing challenges and opportunities within this key sector. This investment in these tech-based firms is another example of our efforts to support innovation that will result in more good jobs,” State Representative Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) said.
DCEO’s Innovative Product Grant (IPG) Program was created to accelerate the commercialization, improvement, and production of goods and services with an application in homeland security and other sectors. IPG funds are intended to help create jobs and increase economic activity in Illinois while strengthening the state’s competitive position as a leader in science and technology innovation.
“The key to advancing Illinois in the global economy is to encourage innovation through investment. With these grants to four exemplarily, high-growth, tech-based companies, Gov. Blagojevich and I are helping to ensure our companies have the support they need to develop more effective products and advance technologies that contribute to improving our national security and creating more good jobs,” DCEO Director Jack Lavin said.
DCEO’s Homeland Security Market Development bureau is focused on supporting businesses engaged in the homeland security industry, and the bureau offers a variety of investment tools designed to help existing Illinois companies expand operations and utilize available state and federal programs and services. For more information on HSMD, visit www.hsmd.illinois.gov.
Gov. Blagojevich’s Opportunity Returns regional economic development strategy is the most aggressive, comprehensive approach to creating jobs in Illinois’ history. Since a one-size-fits-all approach to economic development just doesn’t work, the Governor has divided the state into 10 regions – each with a regional team that is empowered and expected to rapidly respond to opportunities and challenges. Opportunity Returns is about tangible, specific actions to make each region more accessible, more marketable, more entrepreneurial and more attractive to businesses. It is about upgrading the skills of the local workforce, increasing the access to capital, opening new markets, improving infrastructure, and creating and retaining jobs. It’s about successfully partnering with companies and communities, large and small, to help Illinois reach its economic potential.