Creative funding for business.

• Author: Ess, Charlie
• Position: Alaska Science and Technology Foundation

Sometimes traditional bank loans aren't the way to go.

It was winter. There had been fresh snow, compacted by thousands of churning tires as commuters ground their way homeward from the offices downtown. Sometime during the long night that followed it might have rained, the water turning to ice as temperatures dropped below freezing. Whatever the cause, Michael T. Frost skidded through enough intersections that something inside of him snapped: "I asked, 'Why should I have to wait for the city to sand the intersection?'"

No doubt, some would have taken issue with the city and the scheduling of its sanding trucks. But Frost envisioned a day when the sensor for his anti-lock brakes would simultaneously active a device inside his sand-filled bumpers, sending out metered plumes ahead and behind the vehicle. Frost probably wasn't the first to muse about some form of sand dispenser, but apparently he was the first to take the idea to heart. He emerged a year and a half later with a patent on his design.

While nobody's quite sure whether the final version of the traction enhancer will spew sand, sawdust or walnut shells, Frost knows exactly where to shop for help in developing and financing his ideas: the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation, now in its 11th year of fueling Alaska's entrepreneurial dreams.

A Helping Hand

The foundation was created out of the need to co-invest in scientific and/or technological business endeavors that benefit Alaska in the long run but may take seven to 10 years - or even longer - to develop. According to the foundation's 1998 annual report, 84 percent of the state's entrepreneurs say their projects wouldn't have made it off the ground without the help of ASTF, and more than a third say they wouldn't be in their business at all if not for ASTF.

Throughout the years, the scope of ASTF-funded projects has included the manufacturing of timber products, airplane exhaust systems and rocket launching facilities to name a few. A host of value-added ventures for seafood have dominated the list recently, but there have been some ventures as obscure as building bows and arrows and a few secret projects, too.

Of course, there are stipulations to winning a grant. Jamie Kenworthy, executive director of ASTF, likes to summarize the key principles in tart questions. "Who cares?" he asks. He's implying, of course, that unlike a bank, business ideas should extend beyond personal monetary wanton and carry an altruistic twist...