Angel investment concept goes rural

By SARAH KESSINGER

Harris News Service

Salina area businesswoman Jan Srack learned she and her husband weren't alone when they sought to start an innovative business a few years ago.

Through a network of supportive Kansas businesses, they've raised capital and received valuable business advice from other entrepreneurs across the state.

Srack will speak this morning at a Hays workshop to launch a new Rural Angel Investor Network promoted by the state and made up of investors and entrepreneurs.

The meeting, at the Hays Welcome Center, is geared toward local economic development directors and features presentations by business owners, regional investment development leaders and Steve Radley, director of NetWork Kansas, a program seeking to connect businesses with resources statewide.

Speakers hope to offer a picture of what's possible in rural communities with an angel investor system.

Angel investors are people willing to provide money for startup businesses. Unlike a partner, the angel investor usually isn't involved in management but can enhance a business through their contacts and expertise. The concept is a national one, which spread across the United States in the 1990s.

"The networking and contacts are invaluable," said Srack, president and chief executive officer of Matrix Electronic Measuring, Inc., which markets a photographic electronic measuring system for the automotive collision repair industry.

She and her husband, Bob, have found business-based networking valuable to their start-up venture.

"It really helps you feel like you're not out here working in a vacuum," Jan Srack said, "that you have other network people that support you and that you can seek advice from."

Srack's business, located north of Salina in Bennington, was also named recently as a Pipeline Innovator, a designation of the state-owned Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. for notable new technology companies in the state,

The Kansas Rural Angel Initiative seeks to promote equity investments in a business' early stages, serving to connect entrepreneurs and investors.

The Midwest Venture Alliance, a statewide network of accredited investors, is committed to investing in high-growth seed companies and young technology companies in Kansas and nearby states.

Members of the initiative include entrepreneurs, business owners and executives experienced in funding and growing new businesses. Not only do members invest, they also share their expertise with companies supported by the alliance.

Angel investments help spur local economic growth and jobs in a community. They also can create a more sustainable business environment, with less talent drain from a region, Radley said.

A main focus are technology companies, which tend to pay above-average wages, he said.

Patricia Brasted was a founding member of the Midwest Venture Alliance. She is also president and CEO of the Wichita Technology Corporation, which helps entrepreneurs in south-central Kansas write business plans and access funding for them.

Angel groups, a mix of accredited investors, since 2005 have provided $2.6 million to five companies in the state's larger communities.

"Now we're prepared to take it into rural parts of the state," Brasted said. "We're matching businesses with those who have resources. We're trying to work out a method to get as many people connected as possible."

In addition to the Midwest Venture Alliance, there is the Mid-America Angels Network in the Kansas City and Lawrence areas.

Radley said today's meeting in Hays seeks to explain to economic development directors in northwest and north-central Kansas what types of businesses are best for angel money.

"The economic development directors will be key to directing this across the state," he said.

Members of the Midwest Alliance communicate via the Internet on a secure site. Through it, they learn of new businesses that might fit the profile they're looking to invest in.

"If we can hook the start-ups with those who have the resources, we can help them grow and prosper in Kansas so they don't have to move somewhere else," Brasted said. "We want to make sure investors across the state understand there are investment opportunities in the state. So regardless where you are in Kansas, you'll have the same information. We're really hoping this will offer cross collaboration. The bigger the pool the more money we can offer to entrepreneurs."