Bill Wilkie

 Bill Wilkie, founder of InventureX, Harrison, Mich., will be the speaker at the June 25th meeting of the Jackson Inventors Network at Jackson Community College.  In 2012, Wilkie began researching a start-up called www.inventureX.com that will showcase in late 2013 patented low- and medium-technology products that can be purchased by small- and medium-sized cities in three states. He earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1969 and subsequent research focused on the underlying principles of the Land-Grant Idea/System. After a two-year interlude at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, on leave of absence from MSU, Wilkie joined Multifastener Corp. in 1976 as Executive VP and General Manager. Multifastener was the lead engineering company supplying patented ‘Piece Nut Fastening Systems’ to all three major automotive OEM’s along with three international joint ventures in England, Germany and Japan.  In 1981-82, he created Technology Search Inc. that found ‘invisible technologies’ for Fortune 500-type companies.  In 1998, W.R. Wilkie & Co. completed an eleven-year cycle as owner of an executive search boutique serving five holding companies in Michigan looking for division presidents as innovators/leaders.

The meeting will also feature a Skype call to Cary Harwin president of FUNDAGEEK.COM (http://www.fundageek.com/), on the topic of crowd-funding, the hottest new way to fund your project or a start-up. This is a new national, international trend-phenomena that is helping inventors and start-ups get early hard to find funding.

The meeting starts at 6:00-6:30 with registration, followed by the program and networking. The meeting will be held in the Justin Whiting Building on the JCC campus, in room 158.