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Commercial Enterprises at Utah State University — the one stop shop for intellectual property protection and business development — has moved. Still located on the Utah State University Innovation Campus, CE headquarters are now housed at building 1780, Suite 108. Hours of operation are Monday thru Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

“The team is together now,” said Robert T. Behunin, vice president for commercialization and regional development at Utah State University. “With a team housed under the same roof, we believe that our opportunities with the USU research community and collaboration with industry partners will continue to grow.”

Commercial Enterprises at USU hit the ground running in January 2011. A team of business development directors — including Curt Roberts (formerly of USTAR), Forrest Fackrell (formerly of the USU Research Foundation), Christian Volmar (formerly of USTAR) and David Clark (formerly of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business) — began engaging industry leaders with partnership opportunities.

Intellectual Property Services — Joe Christison, IP manager and patent agent, Ryan Brady, associate council for USU and patent attorney and Dale Andersen, IPSO’s newest IP manager and patent attorney — continue to work with USU faculty and staff to protect university intellectual property developed at Utah State University. Docket agents, Laura Steinmeyer and Monica Neilson, manage the USU IP portfolio.

Andersen comes to Utah State University Commercial Enterprises from Bacal Law Group. His educational background includes a bachelor’s from BYU in mechanical engineering, as well as a law degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. He brings with him a strong scientific, engineering and business background.

“In the past year, Commercial Enterprises has increased licensing income, spun out more companies and engaged industry in new ways,” said Behunin. “We have partnered with industry on USTAR projects, have negotiated capital investment dollars to benefit USU companies and have reached out to regional campuses to extend the land-grant research mission of Utah State University to the development of intellectual property throughout the state.”

At a time when federal and state research dollars are diminishing — a result of the continued economic downturn — Commercial Enterprises seeks to solve problems by spinning more research dollars into the university system. By partnering with industry to leverage state and federal research dollars, and drawing on the talented research faculty at Utah State University, Commercial Enterprises is solving real problems.

The unification of the commercial efforts at Utah State University and emphasis on research and commercialization outreach expands USU’s land-grant profile and mission for the economic good of the state. With USU regional campuses or extension offices in each of Utah’s 29 counties, Commercial Enterprises collaborates with industry networks and governments to leverage university resources to expand opportunities for USU and its partners that will lead to economic sustainability, new capital and job creation, increased tax and royalty revenue, and a value-added industrial base.

For more information, visit Commercial Enterprises on the web. Commercial Enterprises is located on the Utah State University Innovation Campus, building 1780, suite 108.