At the Spiro Center, we work closely with several organizations in advancing our outreach initiatives.

Office of Technology Transfer, Clemson University
The Spiro Center assists the Clemson University Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) in performing market assessments of university technologies being considered for commercialization, when requested. A representative of the Spiro Center also serves on the OTT’s Intellectual Property Committee.

Upstate Coalition for Entrepreneurial Development
The Spiro Center is a founding memeber of The Upstate Coalition for Entrepreneurial Development (UCED). The UCED is a regional initiative with a mission to foster, promote and support an environment whereby impactful entrepreneurial companies can flourish and thereby assure a highly prosperous economy for the Upstate.
The UCED has three main strategies to accomplish this vision/mission:
(1) Champion for entrepreneurs - UCED will assist entrepreneurs' needs by directing them to the appropriate group for support. UCED will provide opportunities for entrepreneurs that will improve their success and increase their impact;
(2) Champion for areas of need - UCED will take a lead role in identifying areas of need for entrepreneurs and actively solicit activity to resolve the need and
(3) Champion for Upstate Entrepreneurialism - UCED will proactively promote the Upstate in order to gain external recognition of the entrepreneurial richness in the region.
In 2004, the Spiro Center partnered with the UCED and Greenville Tech's Buck Mickel Center to secure a $7,500 grant from SC Alliance 2020, a W. K. Kellogg Foundation Initiative at Clemson, to sponsor a series of seminars for Upstate entrepreneurs during Fall, 2004. Seminar topics included an examination of leadership styles, strategies for advisory board development and the acquisition of growth capital.

Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technology at Clemson University
The Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), directed by Dr. John Ballato, and the Spiro Center have received a $600,000 Partnerships for Innovation grant from the National Science Foundation to implement a plan to create a Center of Economic Excellence in Photonic Materials leading to a photonics materials cluster centered in the upstate region of South Carolina. The objectives of the grant activities are to (1) develop an entrepreneurial workforce with expertise in photonics, including researchers, technicians, and experienced managers; (2) stimulate the transfer of academic innovations in photonic materials to new and established firms; and (3) broaden the base of entrepreneurial and economic development resources in support of photonics-related companies. A network of collaborators are involved, including the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, the Upstate Coalition for Entrepreneurial Development, the Upstate Alliance, Tri-County Technical College, Spartanburg Technical College, Greenville Technical College, and industry partners including BellSouth, Cisco, Tetramer and Kigre. The long-range goal is to create a model for technology-based economic development in SC that can be replicated and extended for other promising technology sectors

Other Collaborations and Partnerships
The Spiro Center also collaborates with and makes referrals to other organizations to better serve the needs of inventors and entrepreneurs in the state.

• Small Business Development Center at Clemson University
• Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE)
• InnoVenture Capital Conference
• South Carolina Investor’s Network (SCIN)