'Not Invented Here' - What Ford Is Looking for with New Motor City Innovation Exchange and Jump Start Program

'Not Invented Here' - What Ford Is Looking for with New Motor City Innovation
                       Exchange and Jump Start Program

PR Newswire

DEARBORN, Mich., May 31, 2012

DEARBORN, Mich., May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- 

  o Ford's intellectual property licensing group to open Motor City Innovation
    Exchange providing a showroom for innovators to show off their creations
    to peers and potential customers
  o Working with TechShop, the nonprofit AutoHarvest Foundation and Wayne
    State University's TechTown, Ford is helping entrepreneurs commercialize
    their creations
  o Ford Land is now offering the Jump Start program to provide more
    affordable work/hacker space along with support to help spur job-creating
    businesses

For more than a century Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) has been a leading
automotive industry innovator, launching breakthroughs in areas as diverse as
manufacturing, safety, propulsion systems and vehicle design. Today Ford is
reaching beyond its boundaries to encourage entrepreneurship and the sharing
of ideas to facilitate innovation that can help not only the company, but more
importantly, the community at large to create a better world.

"There was a time not so long ago in this business when ideas that were 'not
invented here' got easily dismissed," says William Coughlin, CEO, Ford Global
Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company that manages the
company's intellectual property portfolio. "The competitive pressures in the
auto industry today are greater than ever, with demands for improving quality,
safety, technology and of course fuel efficiency, so we are both encouraging
and looking for new ideas wherever we can find them."

Ford is launching several major initiatives to support entrepreneurship and
surface technological innovation in southeast Michigan. In addition to the
recent improvement to the Patent Incentive Program that provides Ford employee
inventors with a three-month free membership to TechShop Detroit, Ford is also
looking for new ideas from outside.

"TechShop is a place where entrepreneurs and other makers have access to over
one million dollars of tools, software and high-end equipment that allow them
to rapidly and inexpensively prototype," said Mark Hatch, CEO of TechShop.
"Innovation happens when you add community and crowdsourcing into the mix –
which is exactly what the Motor City Innovation Exchange will do for our
members, the automotive industry and anyone in the greater Detroit area who
has an idea they want to turn into a reality."

Motor City Innovation Exchange, AutoHarvest and TechTown

Creators with ideas that have been fleshed out need to put them into action
and that's where the Motor City Innovation Exchange comes into play.

"Bringing TechShop to Detroit was the critical first step in the creation of
the Innovation Exchange," says Coughlin. "It will be an open meeting place
that will enable inventors to showcase what they create in TechShop and then
negotiate, network and even sell their prototyped solutions to players in the
automotive industry, from manufacturers and suppliers to research institutions
and startups."

The Innovation Exchange is also a physical extension of Detroit-based
AutoHarvest Foundation, a nonprofit organization set up by several respected
automotive executives to facilitate connections between the industry and Metro
Detroit's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Ford Global Technologies, along with
other automakers, suppliers, universities and research centers actively
support AutoHarvest. The goal is to build a vibrant marketplace for licensing
technological innovation across and beyond the auto industry.

Until now, there has been a major disconnect between having a great idea and
being able to sell or license it to companies that can actually put it to use.
For those not already in the industry, making the right connections to present
a new concept or product has been a daunting task. AutoHarvest and Innovation
Exchange hope to provide a platform for commercializing the intellectual
property created by everyday inventors, industry insiders, universities and
research labs.

TechTown, the Wayne State University business incubator, will hold regular
"office hours" sessions at Innovation Exchange to provide informal business
support to TechShop members and other innovators. Exchange participants will
be able to take advantage of free or low-cost workshops on a variety of
relevant topics presented by TechTown instructors.

"Innovation Exchange is all about helping to spread the word about the
innovation happening both inside and outside of TechShop, and giving the
creators the foundational resources they need to understand how to sell and
commercialize their idea and connect with the right players while respecting
their intellectual property," says Coughlin.

Jump Start Program

TechShop members with big ideas for a startup and a need for affordable
working space can participate in a new Jump Start Program that offers
discounted rental rates in Ford Land buildings in the Allen Park and Dearborn
area. 

Because of the diversity of projects being developed at TechShop, Ford Land
will be flexible in providing suitable space that fits the specific needs of
participants. The space, including locations adjacent to TechShop Detroit, can
be used by individuals or small businesses for a variety of purposes including
office, garage, lab and assembly use. Interested TechShop members can access
information at http://fordland.com.

"Supporting innovation and entrepreneurialism benefits the entire region,"
said Donna Inch, chairman and CEO, Ford Land. "By lowering startup costs, we
will enable more businesses to get off the ground and have a better chance of
being successful."

"Like every industry, the automobile business was built and thrived on
innovation," said Coughlin. "As personal transportation is reinvented in the
21st century, the challenges facing the industry are greater than ever and
fresh ideas are essential to success."

"Ford is pleased to be leading the way through its connections with TechShop,
AutoHarvest Foundation and TechTown," he added.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn,
Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With
about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company's
automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial
services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding
Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.

About Ford Land

Ford Land is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and a
full-service provider of real estate, construction and facility services. Ford
Land owns a commercial office portfolio of more than five million square feet
in Dearborn and Allen Park, Mich. For more information visit
http://fordland.com

About AUTOHARVEST

AutoHarvest Foundation is a Michigan 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization and is
led by some of the most highly respected figures in the automotive industry.
AutoHarvest is designing and planning to launch a marketplace-driven
Ecollaboration system that accelerates innovation in advanced manufacturing.
AutoHarvest is guided by its peer interest group, which consists of over 70
prominent government, university, automaker, supplier, venture capital,
business accelerator and manufacturing organizations. Located within the
innovation hubs of the Southeast Michigan region including Wayne State
University's Research and Development Park - TechTown - and the University of
Michigan's North Campus Research Complex, AutoHarvest sits in the heart of
NAFTA's automotive cluster. Recently awarded a grant by the New Economy
Initiative Foundation ("NEI"), AutoHarvest is part of the NEI's Detroit
Regional Innovation Network, a 10-year program to boost high-tech development
and job creation in Southeast Michigan. For more information visit:
http://www.autoharvest.org.

About TechShop, Inc.

Founded in October 2006, TechShop, Inc. is a membership-based, do-it-yourself
(DIY) workshop and fabrication studio, providing access to a vibrant community
of highly creative people and more than $1 million worth of high-quality
machines, tools, and software. TechShop offers instruction for people of all
skill levels to get them started using TechShop's tools and equipment. With
plans to expand nationally, TechShop is based in Menlo Park, CA, with current
locations in San Francisco, San Jose, Raleigh, NC, and Allen Park, MI.

For information and course listings, visit http://www.techshop.ws,
email info@techshop.ws or call 855-TECSHOP. You can follow TechShop on Twitter
at "@TechShop." TechShop is also on Facebook as "TechShop Incorporated."

About TechTown:

TechTown is a community of passionate, diverse people and businesses driven by
an entrepreneurial spirit to pursue extraordinary opportunities. Entrepreneurs
join TechTown to gain guidance and get connected with resources needed for
success. TechTown offers entrepreneurs unique access to Wayne State
University's research, academic and technology assets. By reigniting an
entrepreneurial culture, TechTown is fueling business growth, job creation and
the revitalization of Detroit's Midtown and beyond.

For more information visit: TechTown http://techtownwsu.org/, or find us
online at http://facebook.com/techtowndetroit or follow us on Twitter at
@techtowndetroit

SOURCE Ford Motor Company