comprehensive support for bioscience & tech

Business Services

Amplify your success

No matter the stage of your business, KU Innovation Park’s team is ready to help. Our comprehensive list of business services, ranging from market validation to social media strategy and everything in between, will position your company for success. Even if a service you need isn’t on our list, we can tap into our vast network to find a solution.

If you’re looking for stage-specific services, check out the options for early-stage and startup companies, growing companies and industry. And even if you’re not quite ready for space of your own, we’ve got virtual tenancy options, too.

Park Resources

Modern workspace and a professional staff await your business’ move into KU Innovation Park. Tap into the Park’s student business analysts who work closely with Park staff, company founders and each other to solve complex and challenging problems.

Mentorship & Guidance

The Park’s professional staff has decades of combined experience in management, finance, operations and communications that we leverage for all of our resident companies. And if we don’t have a subject matter expert on staff, we’ll find one for you!

Marketing & Communications

KU Innovation Park meets companies where they are. If you don’t know where to start on communications and marketing or just need some fine-tuning, our professional staff can provide insight and guidance on how to share your story with your target audiences.

Our staff and analysts can help you with:

  • Basic website setup
  • Social media strategy development
  • Proofreading & editing
  • Presentation assistance
  • Logo assistance
  • Media training
  • MarComm 101 education
  • Communications strategic planning guidance
  • Spotlight opportunities on official Park communications platforms
  • News releases and company communications
  • Copywriting & editing
  • Feedback and/or editing of creative materials
  • Website updates
  • Design of print & digital materials
  • Content creation for websites & social media
  • Video services
  • Act as media point of contact
  • Social media design & management
  • Reputation management & crisis communications
Organization & Formation

If you’re just getting started, we can help. Form and register your company, get a business address and registered agent and develop organizational documents and operating agreements. File all the paperwork and we’ll make the assist to get your company official.

Funding Sources

We can help you craft a solid pitch and communications strategy, connect with investors and leverage federal, state and local funding and incentive programs. And we can assist with SBIR/STTR grants, too.

Operational & Administrative Support

The Park offers limited administrative and operational support, including payroll and financial services, setting up insurance policies, general business agreement reviews and talent acquisition.

Dedicated Workspace

We offer flexible and customizable lab and office spaces. We’ll work with you to find the perfect fit for you, your team and your equipment. And if you don’t need a full space quite yet, check out our virtual tenancy options.

Business Plan & Commercialization Strategy

We’ll collaborate with you to identify the best path to market and develop a plan to get your company to its full potential.

Growth & Scaling Strategy

Leverage the Park’s network to get industry expertise and guidance. Receive support from both staff and analysts to create an organizational structure to help you propel your business.

Market Assessments

The Park’s team of professionals and student analysts will evaluate your current company status and determine strategies to encourage growth and optimal market success.

Market Research & Validation

Before the team begins any market research project with a tenant, we learn about your business idea to discuss any services that best fit your company’s needs. Once we establish a plan of action, our dedicated student business analysts will perform a comprehensive analysis that includes the components listed here.

We can also conduct market analysis on any other specific requests. After the market research process, you’ll receive an extensive analysis report to better inform your business decisions.

The analysis includes:

  • Markets
  • Customers
  • Business opportunities
  • Channels
  • Potential obstacles
  • Competition
Competitive Analysis

Is there a market for your product, technology or service? We’ll help your early-stage company find the answer.

Financial Projections & Modeling

Figure out where you are and what your financial goals should be based on your current stage of growth.

KU Resources

KU Innovation Park is private industry’s gateway to the University of Kansas. The Park can be your guide to quickly connect your company to the right resources and people at KU.

Access to Core Labs

Work near prolific academic researchers from KU and access state-of-the-art equipment at the university’s Core Labs. Using KU’s state-of-the-art facilities can help corporate partners defray costs, extend capabilities, access expert scientific advice and service and solve problems.

Talent Pipeline

Proximity to Jayhawks means easy access to a talent pipeline for interns and full-time hires from a top-tier research university.

Collaborative & Sponsored Research

Work near prolific academic researchers from KU and access its cutting-edge technology. The Park can help you find the right researchers by using our network so you can take your product or technology to the next level.

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Sarah Plinsky

Administrator, Douglas County

Sarah Plinsky was hired as the County Administrator in September 2019 after serving in the interim position for nine months. She is currently a member of the board for KU Innovation Park. Before becoming the administrator, she had served as the Assistant County Administrator since December 2010. Previously, Sarah was the Assistant to the County Manager in Johnson County, Kansas. In Johnson County, she also served as the Interim Assistant County Manager for the Community Services Team and Interim Director of Public Health. Sarah is a graduate of Leadership ICMA (International City and County Management Association) and the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia. She holds a B.A. in political science and a Master’s in public administration from the University of Kansas.

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Craig Owens

City Manager, City of Lawrence

Craig Owens began serving as City Manager of Lawrence in July 2019 after serving as City Manager for the City of Clayton, Missouri, for 11 years. Over the past 25 years, he has served similar positions for the cities of Rowlett, Texas, O’Fallon, Illinois, and Hazelwood, Missouri. Craig holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas. He is a member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). Craig is a former president of the Missouri City/County Management Association and the St. Louis Area City/County Management Association.

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Bonnie Lowe

President & CEO, The Chamber, Lawrence

Bonnie Lowe has been the president and chief executive officer of The Chamber of Lawrence since January 2019. In that role, she is responsible for leadership, strategic planning, and management functions. She had earned her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Fort Hays State University. Before her current position, Bonnie was the chief operations officer for the Chamber. For four years before working with the Chamber, Bonnie was a senior civil investigator for the US Attorney’s Office. In Lawrence, from 1998 to 2008, Bonnie worked as the Community Bank President. She also served on the Lawrence City Commission.

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Steven W. Stites, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.C.P

Executive Vice President, Clinical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer, KU Medical Center

Dr. Steve Stites joined the hospital’s leadership team as senior vice president of clinical affairs in February 2012 and became executive vice president and chief medical officer for the health system in July 2018. He serves a dual role as vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Stites received his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Rochester and a fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

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Mark Shiflett, Ph.D., P.E.

Co-Founder & CSO of Icorium, Distinguished Foundation Professor

Dr. Mark Shiflett is a Distinguished Foundation Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas (KU), where his research focuses on developing environmentally friendly, energy-efficient processes and products for the chemical industry. He retired from the DuPont Company after 28 years in 2016 as a Technical Fellow in the Central Research and Development Organization at DuPont’s Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. Mark is an inventor on 46 U.S. patents and has published over 130 articles on his research at DuPont. He is also the co-founder and chief science officer of Icorium Engineering Company, a KU spin-out company revolutionizing refrigerant reclamation with efficient, complete separation of even the most complex mixes.

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Derek Kwan

Board Secretary – Executive Director, Lied Center of Kansas

Derek Kwan serves as the Lawrence Chamber Board Chair and secretary of KU Innovation Park’s Board of Directors. He has served as the Executive Director of the Lied Center of Kansas since January 2014. Derek previously worked for Interlochen Center for the Arts as the Executive Director of Interlochen Presents. At the Lincoln Center in New York City, Derek served as the Vice President of Concerts and Touring for Jazz and the Associate Director of Programming & Concert Operations for Jazz. A voting member of the Recording Academy, he has production credits on over 60 albums. Derek also serves as a board member for the LMH Health Foundation.

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Michele Hammann, CPA/PFS, CVA

Treasurer - Chief Strategy Officer, SSC CPAs + Advisors

Michele received her Master of Accounting and Information Systems from the University of Kansas in 2001. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the Kansas Society of CPAs and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. She is the past Chair of the Board of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and A past President of Junior Achievement of Douglas County. In 2019, Michele received the KSCPA/AICPA ‘Women to Watch’ Experienced Leader Award.

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Karen Willey, Ph.D.

Commissioner, Douglas County

Karen Willey earned her Ph.D. in Geography from KU before starting and operating several successful businesses in Douglas County. Her latest company, FarmTender, LLC, is producing an online application geared toward expanding regenerative farming practices in Kansas. Currently, Dr. Willey leverages her 25 years of nonprofit board experience through her work as a professional consultant and grant writer with Futureful, a local consulting group serving health, housing, and human services nonprofits, mainly in urban Kansas City. In 2022, she was appointed to fulfill an unexpired term on the Douglas County Commission. Additionally, Dr. Willey serves as the President of BRAC, a local housing nonprofit, as a volunteer firefighter with Willow Springs Fire District, as a member of the NAACP Legal Redress Committee, and in many other community roles.

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Douglas Girod, M.D.

Board Chair - Chancellor, University of Kansas

Douglas Girod, M.D., has been the Chancellor of KU since 2017, where he established a bold vision for the University of Kansas to be a destination for top scholars from across the world, an engine of economic growth for Kansas, and one of the nation’s leading research universities. Chancellor Girod received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of California at Davis and his M.D. from the University of California at San Francisco. He is involved with several other organizations, including as a board member of the AAU, Civic Council of Kansas City, chambers of commerce in Lawrence and Greater Kansas City, and MRI Global. Chancellor Girod was recognized with a Regional Leadership Award from the Mid-America Regional Council in 2016 for his work with KC Rising.

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Mike Dever

Vice Mayor, City of Lawrence

Mike Dever was elected to the Lawrence City Commission in 2023 and serves as Vice Mayor. Mike is the president and CEO of GuideWire Consulting, LLC. He supervises the entire staff and all departmental services and oversees a wide variety of environmental and property assessment services.

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Kate Chinn

Incoming Chair, The Chamber of Lawrence

Kate Chinn is the chair-elect for The Chamber’s Board of Directors. Kate owns Express Employment Professionals in Lawrence, a leading staffing provider helping job seekers find work with a wide variety of local businesses.

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Benjamin Shaw

Business Analyst

Benjamin Shaw is a recent graduate of the University of Kansas, earning a degree in chemical engineering with a minor in biomedical engineering. Ben was awarded a Self Memorial Scholarship for his fifth year of education to earn an MBA. As an analyst, he assists the KU Innovation Park team and its tenants with their various business and project needs. Outside of the Park, Benjamin is active in research and student organizations like Engineers Without Borders KU. He also enjoys attending Dole Institute of Politics events, Lied Center of Kansas shows and KU Women’s Basketball games.

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Claire Milroy

Business Analyst

Claire Milroy is a senior at the University of Kansas studying business analytics with a sociology minor. She is involved with many aspects of the Park, including market and commercialization analysis for startups, managing current tenants’ business needs, and assisting the team with other projects as needed. In addition to her responsibilities as a student and business analyst, Claire is a business writing coach, Business Leadership Program Student Executive Board member and AdventHealth volunteer.

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Kerri Johnson

Internal Operations Manager

Kerri Johnson manages the Park’s day-to-day operations, including all administrative and front office matters, managing activities, handling scheduling, and working with service providers to maintain and improve building efficiency and Park staff productivity.

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Michael Smithyman

Director of Operations

Mike Smithyman manages plant operations and construction, handles leasing and related client interfaces, and works with tenants and prospective tenants to meet various business growth, management, and operational needs. He brings years of experience in the commercial real estate industry to the Park. Additionally, Mike tracks and manages the Park’s economic metrics.

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Chris Rehkamp

Director of Business Services

Chris Rehkamp is an experienced entrepreneurial ecosystem builder and has supported the launch and growth of new businesses for nearly a decade. An entrepreneur himself, Rehkamp most recently served as associate director of the Technology Venture Studio at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Innovation Center. Chris has a Master of Professional Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship from the University of Maryland. Startland News named him a Community Builder to Watch in 2022.

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Lindsey Slater

Vice President of Strategic Communications

Lindsey Slater oversees strategic communications for the Park, raising brand awareness to drive business development and expansion while providing support to resident companies. An experienced communications professional with a knack for storytelling, Lindsey highlights the strengths of the Park and its companies through the written word, video and beyond. She most recently was the director of communications and storytelling for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Professionals.

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Adam Courtney

Chief Executive Officer & Board President

As CEO, Adam Courtney provides strategic and operational leadership of the Park, including overseeing business operations, strategic initiatives and resource management, and fostering the Park’s culture, mission and vision. Adam previously worked for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He served as the Park’s chief financial officer for ten years before being named CEO and president of the Board in March 2024.