University of Wisconsin - Extension

¿A Closer Look at the Faces of Learning¿ is a series of articles complementing UW-Extension¿s annual report, Faces of Learning. Faces of Learning is available online at http://www1.uwex.edu/annualreport/">www1.uwex.edu/annualreport or by calling (608) 262-3253

MADISON¿Michael Cockrem solves problems and develops technologies for some of the leading chemical, pharmaceutical and food companies. His firm, KiwiChem International, Inc., creates purification and reaction processes for naturally derived and synthetic chemicals that are used in many applications.

Scientist plus business owner

Cockrem is a scientist who identifies processes, performs economic analyses, develops computer models, runs experiments and examines market factors. He's also an entrepreneur who has expertly honed his skills in business.

KiwiChem's competitive niche is being a small facility that can readily and quickly integrate various aspects of a project, says Cockrem. "We have great flexibility to respond to different requirements of a project as the work develops."

Cockrem completed a doctorate in chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He founded the business as a part-time venture in 1994. He went full time in 1997. Today he has two full-time associates at his principal laboratory in a bustling technology incubator on Madison's west side.

SBDC provides expert advice

As his business grows, Cockrem turns to the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UW-Madison for counsel on some key issues. He works with counselor Jack Reiners.

Reiners addressed KiwiChem's business development issues by providing distance-education services on client-negotiating skills. He also helped the company maximize its profits by encouraging it to adjust its prices.

Learning the realities of business

"We learned three years ago that you need to charge enough to cover the real costs of being in business," says Cockrem. "This counseling prompted an e-mail roundtable I then had with some other consultants on the East Coast. The result was an increase in billing rates required for a sustainable, effective business."

Cockrem says the regulatory load on a small laboratory is heavy. "The business must fill out over 300 forms each year for various permits, taxes, payroll items and insurance, as required by local, state and federal authorities. As a result, we track four different valuations for each asset. It took a few years to find efficient ways to deal with this aspect of the business."

Renewable resources, energy efficiency

One long-term motivation for KiwiChem is to make a significant contribution to the development of processes and technologies to produce fuels and chemicals in a sustainable, efficient fashion from renewable resources.

"This objective includes developing manufacturing technologies for chemicals that not only are based on renewable resources and can compete based on cost and quality, but also use less energy than the manufacturing of comparable petrochemicals," says Cockrem.