Mr. Marty Kaszubowski – Chair

Marty  Kaszubowski  has  over 30  years of  experience  with  a  broad  spectrum  of  public-  and private-sector   organizations   promoting   new   venture   formation,   early-stage   investment, technology   commercialization,   and   innovation-led   economic   development.   Marty   is   an effective,    widely    recognized    advocate    for    innovation-led    economic development    and entrepreneurship  at  the  local,  state,  and  national  levels,  and  has  served  on  the  Governor’s Small Business Advisory Board,  the Board of the Virginia Business Incubation Association, and supported Virginia’s Department of  Business Assistance in realigning Virginia’s small-business programs to better support early-stage, high-growth, entrepreneurial ventures.  Marty is often tapped by the US State  Department and related Non-Governmental Organizations  (NGOs)  to provide  entrepreneurship  training  and  mentoring,  and  has  led  start-up  seminars  and  judged Business Plan contests in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine.

Marty recently joined Old Dominion University  (ODU) as Executive Director of the new Center for Enterprise  Innovation, which  offers  a collection of  integrated services for existing and new businesses.  Until  taking  the  new  position  at  ODU,  Marty  was President  of  General  Ideas,  a technology  venture  consultancy  working  with  US  and  European start-ups  and  early-stage companies  seeking  to  establish  viable  business  models  and  prepare  for  initial  investment.  Prior  to  his  stint  as  a  private  consultant,  Marty  was  Director  of  the  Innovation  Strategies Practice   at   Kaufman   &   Canoles   Consulting,   and   served   as   Vice President   for   Strategic Development  at  the  Earl  Technology  Group  (ETG),  where  he  helped  rapidly  expand  ETG  via acquisition  of  several  early-stage  technology-based  companies.   In  the  late-1990s,  Marty  was the  founding  Director  of  the  Hampton  Roads  Technology  Incubator  (HRTI),  later  served  as Executive  Director  of  the  Hampton  Roads  Technology  Council  (HRTC).  He  is  a  member  of several  startup  company  Boards  and  is  currently  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Advisors  of  the Launch  Place  Seed  Fund,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Advisors  for 757Angels,  and  Chairman  of the Board of the Norfolk State University Research and Innovation Foundation.

Marty  holds  a  Bachelor’s  Degree  in  Aerospace  Engineering  from  the  University  of  Michigan, and a Master’s Degree in Technology Management from the George Washington University.