NMU places idea kiosk in GCC student lounge

By LARRY HOLCOMBE

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Ironwood - Gogebic Community College student Savannah Westie, of Mass City, knows about hard work, having hauled hay at a friend's farm near her home for several years.

Like with any job, the correct tools are needed, but she said she has never found the right gloves for the job.

Enter Invent@NMU, an idea and business incubator based at Northern Michigan University. The Invent@NMU staff were at GCC Thursday afternoon pitching a new product of their own - a portable kiosk which is hoped to be a portal for ideas from an aspiring public.

Westie entered her name and short description of her haymaking-gloves idea into a computer housed in a free standing unit that resembled a large ATM.

On Thursday, a member of the Invent@NMU staff stood nearby to answer any questions as a few students took their turn at the idea box, but the kiosk is designed to be a self-service station where people can reach out for help.

That help can come in various forms, according to Invent@NMU Director Ray Johnson.

Invent@NMU is based at NMU and has a full-time staff of six, but also employs 15 students from various fields of study on a part-time basis. Johnson said the students come from various art, design, engineering and marketing majors.

He said the organization has been around for four years and has helped 400 people with their ideas. Sitting on a table by the window in the GCC student lounge were a few of their success stories - a sail for a paddle board that folds up into a fanny pack, a bent piece of wood that held behind one's back for 10 minutes a day will improve posture and a small tool that helps attach large pieces of metal ductwork together.

Once an idea is floated to the Invent@NMU staff, the person will hear back within three business days, according to Johnson.

The person is presented with a brief report from the staff's research of the idea, looking at several things, including who else is doing this and at what price. A $150 fee from the person will launch a second, more thorough report, including a patent search and looking into the idea's "value proposition" and the competitive landscape, according to Johnson.

A third step is available at $30-an-hour, but can take various forms including the creation of a prototype, marketing plan and sell sheet, he said.

The kiosk is a new idea for Invent@NMU, which is partially funded by a Michigan Economic Development Corporation grant. Johnson said they hope to grow their idea base across the Upper Peninsula from their base in Marquette. Through a partnership with GCC and the cities of Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield, the kiosk will migrate around the western part of the county in schools, businesses and other public places.

The kiosk was planned to be set up at Cold Iron Brewing in downtown Ironwood Thursday night as part of a local business presentation. Johnson said the kiosk will travel, but be based at the college. He hopes it's the first of several kiosks around the U.P., and that if volume warrants a Invent@NMU could open a satellite office in western Gogebic County. An idea, like all ideas, worth exploring.

As for Westie, a forestry student, she and her brother came up with the idea for a light-weight glove with reinforced padding in all the right places and a strap to close at the wrist to keep the hay out.

"We've never found gloves good enough," she said.

She's hoping Invent@NMU will help her fix that problem for the world.

For more information on Invent@NMU, visit invent.nmu.edu.