Sample Sidebar Module

This is a sample module published to the sidebar_top position, using the -sidebar module class suffix. There is also a sidebar_bottom position below the menu.

Sample Sidebar Module

This is a sample module published to the sidebar_bottom position, using the -sidebar module class suffix. There is also a sidebar_top position below the search.

Mentoring Program

Dedicated Volunteers Make coolBLUE Venture Mentoring a Success
Program Helps Entrepreneurs Engage and Assess  

It’s in Homer’s “Odyssey” that we first meet the character Mentor. Goddess Athena, disguised as a human, guides a young man, Telemachus, through a variety of trials and difficulties.

Today, seasoned professionals are actively helping new ventures get on their feet at Innovation Park at Penn State through the coolBLUE Venture Mentoring Service.  The program brings together experienced -- and successful -- business leaders with entrepreneurs and startup owners within the Penn State and regional economic development ecosystems.

The coolBLUE Venture Mentoring Service (coolBLUE VMS) was created several years ago based on a highly successful model at MIT. A group from Penn State spent three days at MIT learning from the professionals who run the mentoring service.

“MIT’s entrepreneurial spirit is active,” said John Vidmar, Director of Transformation Business Service Network, Ben Franklin Technology Partners. “They have 176 mentors, most of them are serial entrepreneurs. We realized we needed to start smaller, looking for successful business people willing to give back. Not to invest in companies, but to help inexperienced business owners with basic insights about sound business practices.”

In the beginning, coolBLUE VMS received commitments from 11 business leaders willing to serve as mentors.

“At the heart of mentorship-- and the guiding principle behind everything done by coolBLUE VMS--  is the development of personal relationships built on trust and genuine interest in the success of the mentees,” stated Dan Leri, Director of Innovation Park at Penn State. “Mentors are asked to meet regularly with mentees and, once a month, with the other members of the team. We look to establish a real chemistry between the mentors and mentees.”

The coolBLUE VMS staff is careful to match mentees with advisors who truly understand the challenges of the mentee’s business venture.

“Take the world of medical devices,” said Vidmar. “There are regulatory hurdles, complex technologies and tough markets.  So you need a mentor who understands those challenges. And of course, business acumen has a high value and is essential. Our mentors started their own businesses and they do understand.”

Leri outlined some of the concepts central to the program’s transfer of knowledge from experienced business mentors to curious learners:

  • Mentors need to be active listeners. It is an absolute necessity.
  • They need to understand the entrepreneur’s needs, motivations and aspirations.
  • They need to coach the entrepreneurs in setting targets.
  • They need to offer positive feedback and useful criticism, leading to better practices.
  • Mentors provide candid and honest appraisals of the entrepreneurs and their companies.

“We don’t want the mentors to think they have to have all the answers,” said Leri. “They can always look for the solution. coolBLUE mentors understand that they need to start mentoring where the entrepreneur is at that moment, not get into ‘what ifs’ or offer global advice that is not really useful to the mentee.”

“In our monthly mentor meetings, we help the mentors fashion good questions that force the mentee to come up with good answers,” said Vidmar. 

The coolBLUE VMS is the next step for entrepreneurs participating in the Ben Franklin TechCelerator Program.

“The TechCelerator Boot Camp is meant for the very early stages of a business,” said Vidmar. “Following the Boot Camp, an entrepreneur is matched with a mentor.”

Currently, coolBLUE VMS has 14 mentors working actively with 12 startups.  The mentors include:

  • Dr. Robert Capretto
  • Allan Darr
  • Todd Erdley
  • Colonel Oscar “OJ” Johnston
  • Don McCandless
  • Bradley J. Mitchell
  • John R. Rodgers, Jr.
  • John Vidmar
  • Jeremy Frank
  • Greg Woodman
  • Jerry Weaver
  • Terry Melton
  • Jim Erickson
  • Ed Marflak

“We urge our mentors to listen, engage, assess and contribute,” said Leri. “As Innovation Park at Penn State greatly increases its activities in driving entrepreneurship, technology transfer and economic growth, we expect the coolBLUE VMS to be at the very center of that growth.”

Available Space

Inquiries on available space at Innovation Park at Penn State should be made to Dan Leri at (814) 865-5925.

Parties interested in leasing space in 331 Innovation Boulevard should contact leasing agent Tom MacDonald at (412) 434-1028. The building is scheduled for completion in late August 2015.

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