Salare Security and Sarmas Group, two companies supported by IIT’s Jules F. Knapp Center, receive cash awards to complement guidance by successful serial entrepreneurs
CHICAGO – The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity today announced that Salare Security and Sarmas Group are the winners of two Entrepreneur in Residence awards. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s (DCEO) Entrepreneur in Residence Program (EIR), administered by the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), partners experienced entrepreneurs with young entrepreneurs to commercialize promising technologies from the state's top researchers and institutions. The program enhances Illinois’ entrepreneurial community and supports experienced and young entrepreneurs in creating new, high-impact companies poised for business growth.
Working with the Jules Knapp Entrepreneurship Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Salare Security and Sarmas Group identified EIRs to guide their work commercializing their promising technologies. The CEC helped the companies formulate meaningful business milestones and the program’s independent selection committee chose the companies for the $80,000 awards to propel them toward success.
“We are thrilled to support promising new companies like Salare Security and the Sarmas Group. Working with Illinois’ top academic and entrepreneurial institutions we identify innovative technologies with commercial potential and find mentors to help companies grow. The focus of the CEC is to assist companies secure new customers, obtain capital and create mentoring opportunities, and the EIR program allows us to do all three for our clients,” said CEC President David Weinstein.
"The EIR is an exciting program to leverage the experienced entrepreneurs from our business community with first time entrepreneurs with innovative and creative new ideas or technologies. This is the type of public-private partnership that will help Illinois’ high growth small businesses expand opportunity, grow the economy and compete in an increasingly competitive global environment," DCEO Director Jack Lavin said.
Salare Security develops and markets VoIP security appliances and OEM security software for use in all types of enterprises. The company also markets VoIP security solutions that stop data leakage through VoIP channels. Unlike other security appliances, Salare Security’s products do not use deep packet inspection and thus do not degrade the Quality of Service (QOS) of voice. Salare Security's products even prevent point-to-point encrypted media streams from carrying data.
Salare Security’s EIR is Ken W. Kousky. Ken is the Founder, President and CEO of IP3 and a veteran of the IT software and services industries. He was CEO of a public company for six years, an educator and a technologist and past recipient of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award. As Chairman of Salare’s Board, Ken will provide guidance to ensure the company’s success.
“Supporting a company like Salare Security that is poised to make an explosive entrance into IT Security is an exciting opportunity for me,” remarked Ken Kousky. “Salare’s present solution in VoIP security is just their beginning. The IT Security industry is experiencing a collision in the need to encrypt to provide privacy and to inspect to guard against data loss. This collision creates a profound problem for any real time communication application where VoIP is just a single example. ”
The Sarmas Group specializes in developing advanced absorbency solutions in the food, consumer, and medical markets. Sarmas Group’s first product platform, Hydrohive Packaging™ (patent-pending) provides value-added protection and safety to product integrity by utilizing technology that actively eliminates damaging atmospheric moisture from food and product packaging, as well as other various medical and consumer applications.
Sarmas Group’s EIR is Victor Thorne, founder of a successful supply chain technology company and principal in a private equity investment firm. Vic’s broad business development expertise in the packaging industry will help Sarmas achieve its business goals.
“We are honored to be a part of this prestigious and vital program. Vic possesses substantial knowledge of and experience in the supply-side of the foodservice industry. We are thrilled to welcome Vic to our team and look forward to building on our past success together,” says Brandon G. Sarmas, Managing Partner of Sarmas Group.
“These companies are proof of the success of the collaboration between community resources such as DCEO, the CEC and IIT. There are many more great ideas that, with the pairing of great talent and financial resources, will make our region a leader in innovation, entrepreneurship and business success,” says Nik Rokop, Managing Director of the Knapp Center.
The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC) is a nonprofit affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce that seeks to make a perceptible and lasting economic impact on the Chicagoland region by helping entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses build viable, sustainable, and profitable enterprises. The CEC works with entrepreneurs to create and sustain opportunities for business success, job growth, and profitability.
Governor Blagojevich’s Opportunity Returns regional economic development strategy is the most aggressive, comprehensive approach to creating jobs in Illinois’ history. Since a one-size-fits-all approach to economic development just doesn’t work, the Governor has divided the state into 10 regions – each with a regional team that is empowered and expected to rapidly respond to opportunities and challenges. Opportunity Returns is about tangible, specific actions to make each region more accessible, more marketable, more entrepreneurial and more attractive to businesses. It is about upgrading the skills of the local workforce, increasing the access to capital, opening new markets, improving infrastructure, and creating and retaining jobs. Opportunity Returns is about successfully partnering with companies and communities, both large and small, to help all of Illinois reach its economic potential.