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Software development company is new BTR Park partnerMarch 13, 2008 KALAMAZOO--An information technology company that specializes in software development for law enforcement is the most recent firm to become a corporate partner in Western Michigan University's Business Technology and Research Park. iyeTek, a next generation software development company, has moved into space in the park's Granite Park I building, located at 4664 Campus Drive. The company offers a wide range of software solutions to law enforcement and government agencies nationwide, ranging from electronic citation systems to record management systems. It is occupying nearly 1,300 square feet of the building and will complete its move later this month from offices in Lansing and Kalamazoo, making the BTR Park location the company's headquarters. According to company co-founder Salman Anwar, iyeTek had been considering a move to the park for more than a year and was attracted by the availability of student interns and future employees; the chance to work with other IT firms, such as Blue Granite, which also is housed in the Granite Park I building; and the park infrastructure, which includes access to the high-speed CTS Telecom network and the advantages that come with being a Michigan SmartZone. "We're delighted to be part of the great research community on campus," Anwar says. "We're working with the University's departments of Computer Information Systems and Computer Science, and talking with them about some research and about the University expanding its course offerings into some of the Microsoft.NET programming that is the basis for the work we do." The company was founded in Kalamazoo by Anwar and Jeremy Vainavicz, both alumni of WMU's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Almost all of the software they use in delivering their services was developed by them and is proprietary. Their success, Anwar says, has them in the position of seeing rapid expansion in the coming months. He says the company expects to add five or six new employees and interns during the final quarter of 2008. The firm now stands at six employees and has three student interns from the University's engineering and business programs. iyeTek offers project management, contract programming and software development in the public safety and criminal justice sectors. Its software solutions include products that allow various levels of government to manage documents, share data, capture crash data through a state-certified system, and even allow for online payment of citations and court judgments. According to Bob Miller, WMU associate vice president for community outreach and WMU's point person for the BTR Park, iyeTek is exactly the type of firm the park was designed for--one that fits the park's discipline profile and one that plans to actively work with faculty and students in the University's academic departments. "Our focus is on companies in the life sciences, advanced engineering and information technology," Miller says. "We've been building an environment in which there's a real synergy between and among our academic programs and all of our park partners. This is a young company that is commercializing its intellectual property and creating jobs, so it's a wonderful example of what the park is all about." WMU's Business Technology and Research Park shares the University's 265-acre Parkview Campus with the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Launched in late 1999, the park is home to nearly 30 companies employing more than 600 people. The park is one of 11 sites around Michigan designated as a SmartZone by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Information is available at www.wmich.edu/btr. Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu WMU News |
