Companies by the Technology Associa on of Georgia and is a finalist for the 2014 Atlanta
Magazine Groundbreaker of the Year Award.
UGA exper se, support and services guided IS3D through its venture:
The UGA Technology Commercializa on Office facilitated nego a ons to license UGA‐generated intellectual property to IS3D.
UGA VentureLab assisted IS3D in its applica on for funding from the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), a nonprofit organiza on
that works closely with the state’s research universi es and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to spur
technology‐based economic development and innova on through technology transfer and start‐up opportuni es.
IS3D won $50,000 in GRA seed funding for proof‐of‐concept work, which allowed IS3D to improve its technologies, commission
a market research report and compete for Small Business Innova on Research (SBIR) grants.
The UGA Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provided training, educa on and consul ng to the business.
Robertson completed the Kauffman Founda on FastTrac TechVenture Program, a six‐week course offered by the SBDC,
designed to give technology‐related entrepreneurs the skills to launch a successful company.
Performance Dashboard Aids Budget Decisions for
Athens Medical Practice
W
hen Dr. Tara Merri decided to move to Athens
she had a hard me finding a prac ce that would
support her specialty—pediatrics and sports
medicine. So she decided to open an office of her
own.
“We’ve found that doctors have a lot of good data in their
prac ce management systems, but they don’t know how this
data should drive their decision making,” he says.
“John and Ma have helped us project how many employees we
can afford based on pa ent volume, and we’ve grown to five
For help, she turned to the Georgia Small Business Development staff,” Walthers says. “They also helped us project our revenues.
Center, a unit of the UGA Office of Public Service and Outreach. Budge ng has helped us make sure we’re not overspending in
John Maynard, with the.
office supplies and payroll.”
Merri shared her vision with John Maynard, the SBDC assistant Merri saw about six pa ents a day when the prac ce opened.
state director for capital forma on.
Now she sees 18‐20 pa ents a day.
“We looked at geographic data, types of prac ces and the
pa ents I wanted to serve,” she says. “I honed in on a couple of
areas, and we ran all kinds of data rela ng to these geographic
loca ons.”
“We’re ge ng very close to our goal in a very short amount of
me,” she says. “At the end of the year, I was right on the
budget. This is very hard to do your first year out, especially in
the health care market today.”
Maynard, who with Ma Las nger also directs the SBDC’s
medical prac ce management training and consul ng ac vi es,
helped her put together a loan package to get the business
started and they worked together on a budget.
In 2012, Merri opened Performance Pediatrics and Sports
Medicine in Bogart, the first such specialized prac ce in the
Athens area.
Las nger helped prac ce administrator Mary Walthers, one of
three staff members, set up an accoun ng system. He showed
her how to work with QuickBooks and how to correlate it with
the prac ce management so ware.
Maynard set up a performance dashboard to help track their
progress.
Dr. Tara Merrit successfully opened her pediatrics and sports medicine
prac ce in Bogart with the help of UGA’s Small Business Development Center .
Summer
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