Ann Lansinger?s career and the business incubator progress have grown together for almost 20 years.
Lansinger, 63, has helped local startup technology businesses develop strategies for success since 1999, when she became the executive director of the Emerging Technology Centers in Baltimore.
“I love dealing with the people, because they come to you full of potential and enthusiasm with a new venture,” Lansinger said. “I don?t see how you could not come away from the process enthused.”
ETC, whose parent company is the Baltimore Development Corp., has provided assistance to 135 companies since 1999. To date, ETC client companies have received more than $210 million in funding and have been issued more than 150 patents, according to the firm.
The incubator currently assists 63 Baltimore technology companies, which have developed an “eclectic” variety of technologies, including medical devices, software products and information technology services, Lansinger said.
Before joining ETC, Lansinger was manger of the Technology Development Center at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She started working at UMBC in 1989, when the incubator process was “a relatively new phenomenon,” Lansinger said.
“At the time, it was seen as a place for ?weaker? companies,” Lansinger said. “The process has now grown to the point where it?s a really good place to go because of all the available resources.”
These days, incubators are helping startup firms develop broad business plans as well as answering specific business needs, Lansinger said. ETC also works with business owners with previous entrepreneurial experience.
“The objective has stayed the same,” Lansinger said. “We identity potential entrepreneurs that have a good business idea and put them on a path to success.”
Lansinger was the founding president of the Maryland Business Incubation Association from 2000 to 2003 and now serves on the boards of the MBIA and the National Business Incubator Association.
“She?s always looking for ways to improve the company,” said Fulya Gursel, a program coordinator who tracks client company progress for ETC. “It?s her passion for what she does that helps other companies succeed and helps us do our jobs.”
ANN LANSINGER
First job: In high school, I worked in the accounting office for a men?s clothing manufacturer in Baltimore.
Education: Two years at University of Maryland Baltimore County, studied history
Daily e-mails received: 200 to 300 ? “It?s unbelievable.”
Daily voicemails received: Five to 10
Favorite gadget: iPod
Career objective: To make a difference and improve the incubator industry
Essential Web sites: Prospect, vendor and research sites
Hometown: Baltimore
Birth date: Jan. 2, 1944
Original aspiration: I wanted to be an artist.
Sports/hobbies: gourmet cooking, outside activities like swimming and walking
