6.0. EDSR 03-14-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Report of Genesis Business Centers, Ltd. Prepared for the Elk River EDA Meeting on 14 i• March 2005: Overview: The Elk River Incubator Program (Incubator Program) is making good progress despite a severe handicap in respect of the lack of ready sources of seed capital (cash investments)that in the past have been able to serve as both inducements and help respectively in attracting and growing companies in the Incubator Program. The lack of any funding at the Anoka Sherburne County Capital Fund (ASCCF) and at the Elk River Investment Club has made it difficult for early stage high tech start up companies to leave the founder's basement or garage. Despite this factor, several high quality start up companies are presently considering Elk River's Incubator Program for launching their businesses or establishing their twin cities presence. And the Swedish software company continues to remain highly interested in establishing its North American operations headquarters in Elk River as will be described below. New Prospects for the Elk River Incubator Program: Ashcote/Jim Stewart: Jim Stewart is an entrepreneur with technology that utilizes common fly ash (a highly abundant by product from coal burning electrical generation facilities)for constructive purposes such as coating of telephone and utility poles. He is agreeable to an Elk River location for his operations where he would compound a coating that would then be sold to third parties such as electrical utility transmission companies or telephone companies for their application to their electrical or telephone poles. He could have an office operation in the Elk River Incubator Program and he would require warehouse space with a truck dock for his operations. He is more likely however to pay full cash rent (as opposed to stock and rent for the Incubator 1110 Program) and have his office/warehouse combined in one place as a market rate tenant in the community. He needs at least$250 thousand in the short run and a total of about$500 thousand over the near term to launch and grow his business respectively. As part of the'vetting' process, Genesis arranged an introduction through the Elk River Chamber of Commerce to Great River Energy where Tom Lambrecht,the Business Developer for Great River Energy/Northspan Group (based in Sandstone, MN.) met with him recently. The meeting went well from a technical and market needs perspective. As further evidence of the potential for his technology's successful deployment in the marketplace, a major company(La-Farge North America) has been testing his product and is close to placing orders once Ashcote is in production. In the'old days'a company like this one would have likely met with a good reception at the ASCCF and the Elk River Investment Club and would have been able to get$50 to$100 thousand of seed capital fairly quickly. In today's economy, where most'angel' investors are sitting on the sidelines, it is very difficult to raise capital. Mr. Stewart has indicated he probably intends to add experienced and talented individuals to his management team and to retain a seasoned corporate attorney to help guide him through the capital raising process and beyond. Vilco Ov: Vilco is a Finnish company with an innovative fishing accessory: a remote controlled unit that delivers the fishing line/lure to the 'right spot'on a body of water. The product has been well received in the Scandinavian countries and one of the investors in the Finnish company is its commercial bank (banks there are permitted to make investments in their clients). Vilco is interested in establishing a U.S. subsidiary and having its operations based in the Elk