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World's First RFID Technology Incubator Launches In Dayton, Ohio
By Dayton RFID Convergence Center
Dated: May 11, 2009
Convergence Center is the Catalyst for a Major Industry Cluster ~ News Conference Takes Place Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at Noon~
CONTACT:
Bradley C. Proctor, Dayton RCC
CEO/Executive Director
(937) 558-2980
brad.proctor@daytonrcc.com
Dayton, Ohio - In every technical and commercial revolution there is a turning point where an idea or product moves from possibility to achievement. For the emerging global RFID (radio frequency identification) industry, that point may well be the establishment of the world's first RFID business incubator-a place where scientists, entrepreneurs, and businesses convene to gather resources and grow new enterprises-and it's all happening right here.
The Dayton RFID Convergence Center (Dayton RCC) is the newest catalyst for the rapid advancement of commercial application of RFID and related technologies, already commonly used for identification of many products but with virtually unlimited potential for use in industry, shipping, retailing and even medicine and national security.
Dayton RCC provides leased office and laboratory space for start-ups in a new, $6 million state-of-the-art facility in Dayton's Tech Town campus, where it can support 10 to 15 enterprises or projects employing two to five persons each. Through a non-resident affiliate program, Dayton RCC can work with 10 additional companies engaged in RFID development.
At a noon news conference on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, Dayton RCC CEO and Executive Director Brad Proctor and other industry leaders will announce that the new business incubator is ready to accept applications from entrepreneurs who are interested in establishing and growing their RFID-based enterprises.
WHY DAYTON?
"Dayton, Ohio, has long history of innovation and one of the nation's highest concentrations of research and technology workers, and we are already at the hub of the RFID industry," says CityWide Development President Steve Budd. "We're extremely proud to be a partner in this exciting evolution and look forward to seeing another new industry emerge with its roots in Dayton."
To illustrate this point, 80 percent of RFID companies and users in the U.S. are located east of the Mississippi River. Dayton's emerging RFID cluster includes companies such as Alien Technologies, Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Smuckers, NCR, Avery Dennison, Teradata, CDO Technologies, and the Advanced Sensors Directorate at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
With this convergence of RFID technology and commerce, Dayton is the logical place for a business incubator equipped to take early stage RFID enterprises to success. "Dayton RCC is uniquely qualified to promote commercial RFID success," said Proctor. "Dayton is rich in technology and is poised to be the home of a major industry cluster centered around RFID. Decades ago, Dayton became a center for automotive manufacturing through a nearly accidental convergence of inventions, resources and labor.
Today, we are quite deliberately and strategically bringing together the technologies, facilities, funding and workforce needed to make Dayton a growing hub for a rapidly expanding industry with great potential and promise." Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin concurs: "It is only fitting that this important industry sector should grow in Dayton," said Mayor McLin. "After all, our city has a remarkable legacy of innovation, including the technologies that led to the development of RFID years ago."
THE DAYTON RCC:
The Dayton RFID Convergence Center (Dayton RCC) is the premier center providing business acceleration and intelligence to entrepreneurs and early stage companies in the RFID, sensor, data management and mining technology industries. Services will include industry-specific expertise, one-on-one coaching by staff and experienced mentors, a network of business and professional assistance, access to an investor network, and assistance with financing.
The Dayton RCC is part of a regional effort to grow the emerging RFID sector in southwestern Ohio. The 17,000-square-foot incubator will open in July 2009 in Tech Town's Creative Technology Accelerator Building. Tech Town is a 30-acre technology-focused business park under development in downtown Dayton.
The Dayton RCC uses a proven model for business incubation developed by industry leader Business Cluster Development (BCD). BCD has assisted in the development of more than 50 business incubation programs. According to the National Business Incubation Association, businesses which participate in an incubator program have a success rate of approximately 80 percent over a five-year period, compared to a success rate of 20 percent for non-incubated businesses.
The Dayton RCC is a public-private partnership between the City of Dayton, CityWide Development Corporation, and EPC Technologies, Inc. The establishment of the Dayton RCC is made possible in part by a $1.4 million development agreement approved by the Dayton City Commission in 2007. The Dayton RCC is located in a HUBZone, offering incentives for federal agencies to contract with HUBZone small businesses. For more information on the Dayton RCC and RFID technology, visit www.daytonrcc.com.
ABOUT RFID TECHNOLOGY:
RFID is a technology that transmits the identity of an object or person at a distance wirelessly, using radio waves. RFID is considered to be the next generation of the barcode, which was launched in the Dayton area in the mid-1970s. Some auto-ID technologies, like bar codes, require a person to manually scan a label or tag to capture data. RFID enables readers to capture data on tags and transmit it to a computer system-without needing a person to be involved.
A typical RFID tag consists of a microchip attached to a radio antenna mounted on a substrate. The chip can store as much as 2 kilobytes of data. Information about a product or shipment-serial number, date of manufacture, destination, sell-by date and much more-can be written to a tag. As tags become less expensive, potential applications for RFID technology grow. For example, future prescription drug packaging may be RFID-tagged, decreasing the possibility of counterfeit drugs in the market.
MAY 12 NEWS CONFERENCE:
The Dayton RCC news conference takes place on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at noon, at Tech Town's Creative Technology Accelerator (the intersection of Monument and Taylor, 711 E. Monument Ave., in downtown Dayton). In addition to CEO Brad Proctor and Mayor Rhine McLin, expected speakers and attendees include CityWide president Steve Budd, a representative from Avery Dennison, and Incubator Consultant Jim Robbins from Business Cluster Development.
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