Over the past year or so, I've been pleased to learn about the Missouri Innovation Center (MIC) and the business incubator being built in Columbia, Missouri, on the ground I knew as Reactor Park when I was at Mizzou.

The opportunity to be a Founding Contributor to the Life Sciences Business Incubator at Monsanto Place exists, I believe, until the facility opens, which is expected to happen in the summer of 2008.

The Center's President and Chief Executive Officer is Jake Halliday. As much as I am extremely pleased a business incubator such as this -- a technology focused economic development engine -- is being built in mid-Missouri where I was raised and is being operated in cooperation with my alma mater, the University of Missouri, I am all the more excited that someone of Jake's caliber is directing its efforts.

I have known Jake for several years. After working in international development and senior business positions, he joined the MU faculty and teaches an entrepreneurship class besides running the Center. I would be pleased to support the Center in any case, but with Jake at the helm I am as confident as I can imagine being that the Center's efforts are being directed towards the best ends.

I encourage everyone who cares about entrepreneurship in our country, in Missouri, and especially in central Missouri, to support the Center and its work. If you would like to know more about the MIC or the incubator, I hope you'll contact me or, better still, give Jake a call at (573) 884-0487 or email him at jake@missouriinnovation.com.