As with any operations program funded with public tax dollars, Innovate Arkansas has developed a series of effectiveness measures to provide the outcome data public policy officials will need to determine the program's future.
Success factors change for new technology startup companies as they move through the commercialization process from product feasibility and development to market introduction and growth.
Since IA is itself a new entity, its factors for success will also morph from the more simply defined initial measurements of the numbers of clients being worked with and the amounts of new investments that can be made available to those clients, to the more long term determination of whether the program has made a difference in the State.
The ultimate goal of IA is to assist the state in sustaining an environment in which innovation is fostered and developed into a significant component of its economic development initiatives.
The following is a matrix of effectiveness measurements that Innovate Arkansas has developed for its own self analysis.
Initial measurement of program effectiveness - and what was accomplished in the first two years
Number of clients: The initial estimate of contracting with 45 clients by the end of year two was exceeded. IA now has 78 clients within the system, and it is anticipated that the annual growth rate of 40 new clients annually is obtainable.
Number of clients moving through the maturation process: This is a difficult factor to measure given the subjectivity involved in measuring how actively a client is participating. In general, however, IA staff does have recurring conversation and some degree of involvement with 70 to 75 percent of the client caseload in any given month.
Number of clients attaining investments, public and private: To date, 57 of the IA clients have received a combined total of $16.1 million of investments since they became clients of Innovate Arkansas. Of these investments, slightly over half of the funds were from private investors, one-third were federal grants and the remainder were public sector investments, namely Arkansas Science and Technology (ASTA) investments.
Incubator support space available: IA was successful in acquiring approximately 4,000 square feet of office incubator space for use by its client companies for temporary periods as needed. This service has been used by 10 clients to date.
IA must now develop new measurements of success that reflect how successful we are with the new challenges that come with our own maturation. The following are a list of possible measurements to define our activities over the next two to four years of operation.
Program evaluation is a fluid process and needs constant updating to ensure that the program outcomes identified are measured as true factors of effectiveness, not just efficiency. Given the tightening of tax dollars, the state has to be sure that what is being done is not just being done well, but is in fact making a difference.
The IA mission is to add value to the state of Arkansas goal of building an increased number of new, higher paying jobs by mentoring technology based startup companies.