Venture offers state's startups a hand up

FAYETTEVILLE -- Jeff Amerine is a rock star in Arkansas' startup community.

Since 2008, he's been part of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's technology licensing office, serving as associate vice provost for research and economic development and as director of technology ventures.

Amerine split from the University of Arkansas on good terms at the end of 2014, and he'll still teach a class there, but his attention was needed elsewhere -- his own company, Startup Junkie Consulting, was picking up steam.

Startup Junkie is funded in part by a three-year commitment from the Walton Family Foundation to Winrock International to cover operational costs for a venture team in Northwest Arkansas. That backing will help establish the company's 10-year strategy to improve the region's entrepreneurial talent.

In October, Startup Junkie also was awarded a $500,000 contract from the U.S. Small Business Administration as part of a plan to build and strengthen regional innovation networks supporting small businesses.

Startup Junkie intends to do this by offering programs for startups, establishing a headquarters of sorts for entrepreneurs at its offices off the Fayetteville Square, and helping to establish regular events and networking opportunities.

"It's a public mission at entrepreneurial speed," Amerine said.

Before his time at UA, Amerine served in the Air Force, rising to the rank of captain and had an extensive career as an executive and builder of technology businesses.

In recent years, he's acted as a mentor and the master of ceremonies of the state's high-profile incubator program, the ARK Challenge; as a key adviser to Innovate Arkansas, which looks to establish technology-based innovations and create jobs in Arkansas; and helped start the tech-focused investment fund, Gravity Ventures Arkansas.

Carol Reeves, the Cecil & Gwendolyn Cupp applied professor in entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and vice provost for entrepreneurship at UA, said Amerine's credibility, reputation and business contacts will be key components to the company's success.

She said the timing for a venture such as Startup Junkie is good, with Northwest Arkansas' startup community gaining traction as a hub for retail, logistics and food processing. A similar operation in a more mature startup environment, say like Silicon Valley, wouldn't be as good of a fit.

A common need in all new businesses is good mentors and networks where entrepreneurs can get in touch with vital contacts like potential customers, employees, suppliers or investors, Reeves explained. Operations such as Startup Junkie help put business folks in touch with the myriad people who can help them succeed.

Amerine is not a solo act at Startup Junkie. Jeannette Balleza Collins, the face of the ARK Challenge accelerator, serves as director of programs; Brett Amerine, Jeff Amerine's son, is director of operations who as an Air Force officer specialized in contract and project management; and Jayshica Amargos, who worked for Arvest Bank for more than a decade in various roles and led the company's Latino Market Committee, is an executive consultant.

Startup Junkie will work with new businesses, give them advice and help them make contacts. One goal is to offer help to typically underserved groups such as veterans, Hispanics, women, American Indians and the area's Marshallese community.

"They need a lot of help and have a lot of potential, but they don't have a lot of capital," Amerine said of startups.

All the advisory services are free, but participants must agree to share certain metrics about their businesses on subjects such as job creation and new products and services added. The data are kept secret but will be aggregated to examine the growth and progress of the regional venture community.

The company's offerings aren't just for the fresh-faced newcomer, either; Startup Junkie can help established companies upgrade and take their successful concepts to the next level.

It can be a grueling and tough process, Amerine said.

Businesses are put under a spotlight and hard questions are asked. The hope is with the right information and contacts startups can gain traction faster, grow more quickly, and be more stable while avoiding the pitfalls that sink many new ventures.

"It's in the trenches work -- startup by startup, founder by founder," Amerine said.

Edward Haddock, senior area manager for Northwest Arkansas with the Small Business Administration, said businesses need different levels of assistance at various points in their evolution. He said unbiased and unemotional advice about a business concept or a growth strategy is sometimes hard to find, since most entrepreneurs have an emotional commitment to their endeavors.

"The ability to step away and look at the business is important," he said.

Laura Fine, associate state director at the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Center based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said operations like her own and Startup Junkie provide a key service to startups and existing businesses alike. Often the hard part is getting businesses to take advantage of them.

"I wish more people knew about us," she said.

That said, she noted in her 25 years with the center, she's never seen more energetic and growing startup communities, not just in Northwest Arkansas but all around the state. Those startups lead to more Arkansas jobs and a stronger state overall.

"It's exciting," she said.

SundayMonday Business on 02/16/2015

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