When the opportunity presented itself for Joe Ott to take over as the new Chairman of the Board for the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE), there was not a doubt in his mind that it was the right move. The IEE had played a major role in growing Ott’s former company, Acclamation Systems, from a small software startup with no outside financing into a company that sold for $25 million to insurance outsourcing giant, Ebix, Inc. in July 2008.

“I attended IEE’s first CEO educational program in 1999. At the time, we were growing substantially and our existing customers were providing us with sufficient revenue to keep the doors open,” Ott explained. “At the same time, we were committed to investing 35 percent of our technical resources into R&D in order to attain our goal of being the industry’s technology leader in benefit management software. As a direct result of our continuous investment in R&D, our profits were negligible over the first 10 years of our operation.”

“Once we started to put the IEE’s recommendations to work in our company, and implemented the necessary metrics to measure our performance, profitability improved almost immediately. In essence, with the guidance of IEE, we changed Acclamation Systems from a bootstrapped venture into a viable profitable software company,” Ott continued.

“In one of our educational sessions at IEE, the instructor described a company that was growing in revenues at the rate of 30-40 percent annually and growing in profits at the annual rate of 20 percent. The instructor asked who among the class would like to invest in the company and we all raised our hands. The company went bankrupt – they ran out of cash.”

“Three years later we had a similar experience. We had profits of $1.5 million and owed the taxing bodies about $600,000 and virtually all of the profits were tied up in accounts receivable. We experienced exactly what our IEE instructor had predicted. Fortunately, with the aid of our accounting firm, we were able to obtain a line of credit from a local bank (Community Bank) and were able to pay our taxes and also accelerate our R&D efforts.”

As Chairman of the Board, Ott wants to spread the good word on exactly what the IEE can do for entrepreneurs and individuals looking to grow a small business. And in these economic times when it is likely that more and more experienced and highly educated professionals will be breaking out on their own, his timing couldn’t be better.

“My main mission as the new Chair is to make people in this region aware of the great services the IEE offers,” Ott said. “The organization provides more services targeted directly at entrepreneurs and small business owners than any other program in the Greater Pittsburgh region. Just last year, IEE helped individuals raise more than $40 million in funding.”

The IEE helps build the region’s economy by promoting commercialization, entrepreneurial activity, new business creation and established business growth. Through its five core centers, the IEE provides comprehensive assistance to entrepreneurs and closely held businesses at every stage of the business life cycle. These centers include PantherlabWorks, the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Program, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the Entrepreneurial Fellows Center and the Family Enterprise Center.

Since its founding, the IEE has done some pretty impressive work with and for our region’s entrepreneurs and closely held businesses. Annually, the IEE serves more than 1,000 businesses that provide more than 50,000 jobs and generate more than $9.5 billion in revenue.

Ott wants to continue this level of service at the IEE by providing elemental support to the entrepreneurial community going forward.

“More so now than ever, the future of our region is directly linked to the success of entrepreneurs and small businesses,” Ott explained. “It is the IEE’s mission to create opportunities for these businesses to succeed and grow in western Pennsylvania.”

For more information on how the IEE can help your venture, visit www.pittentrepreneur.com.