OU SBA graduates are playing a central role in a small business success story unfolding in Oakland County. Rapidly expanding over the past 17 months, Improvement Path Systems (IPS) has hired five employees — all SBA graduates — and is moving from a home-based office to its first permanent office space in Bingham Farms this summer.
President and CEO Steve Littig and a partner launched IPS in 1992 as a consultant to private sector hospital clients, including Beaumont Hospitals, Henry Ford Health System and University of Michigan Health System. IPS offers targeted services including advanced data analysis, modeling and software development.
Leveraging its experience, technology expertise and success, IPS expanded into consulting Navy medical centers in January 2009. There are now four projects ongoing at Navy hospitals from coast-to-coast.
Delivering value
While growing his business, Littig has relied on the support and expertise available from the SBA, including its Applied Technology in Business (ATiB) program. Whether partnering on research grants, working with students or hiring its graduates, Littig appreciates the value the SBA offers businesses — and the local economy.
“OU SBA students have a great blend of technical competency with real-world application,” explains Littig. “The ATiB graduates especially can hit the ground running, which is imperative for a small growing business such as ours. A strength of OU’s program is a curriculum and mindset that students must learn the theoretical foundations of subject matter — but in a way that is focused on real-world application.”
Through ATiB, students earn a minor while participating in a program that blends rigorous coursework and sponsor projects focused on learning effective business problem-solving skills and project management. Although IPS doesn’t participate as an ATiB sponsor, Littig likes to hire graduates from the program.
IPS and the SBA began working together on a National Science Foundation and Small Business Innovation Research grant a few years ago, which included funding two OU graduate students. Littig was impressed with the caliber of work the students delivered. Since then, Littig has made it a practice to hire SBA graduates.
Littig and his team of SBA graduates are now immersed in helping the Navy improve all aspects of its health care system, including the areas of access to care, quality of care and cost.
Revitalizing the economy
“IPS is working with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab to fulfill these objectives,” says Littig. “Right at this moment stored in the databases of every hospital in the country is a wealth of data and information that could help improve the care of patients and the efficiency of care delivery. The challenge is building tools and technologies to transform this raw data into knowledge.”
This kind of small business growth is vital to Michigan’s economic turnaround.
“IPS is a great example of the type of niche small companies that we need to grow in Michigan and the fact that it’s primarily staffed with OU SBA folks is a testament to both our program and Steve’s confidence in our students,” says Mark Isken, associate professor of MIS, who partners with IPS on research and development projects.
Littig estimates he will add more staff by the end of the year. Given his past success with SBA graduates, he plans to recruit at OU again.
“A business of seven needs people ready to jump in and ‘do’ from day one and I’ve had great success finding those types of people in the SBA,” he says.
SBA and IPS: A winning combination
• Wes Arnold, MIS ‘07, joined IPS in 2010 after working for the SBA’s ATiB program
• Brian Robotnik, MIS ‘06, joined IPS after working at IBM
• Jerrad Wolfrum, ACC ‘07, currently completing his MS in IS from DePaul University
• Joe Zuchora, POM ‘09, joined IPS right after graduation
• Sowmya Venugopal, MBA ‘07, was the first SBA graduate IPS hired and worked for IPS from the beginning of 2009 through October 2009
By Dawn Pauli, CAS ‘88
This article appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of SBA Insight
OU SBA graduates are playing a central role in a small business success story unfolding in Oakland County. Rapidly expanding over the past 17 months, Improvement Path Systems (IPS) has hired five employees — all SBA graduates — and is moving from a home-based office to its first permanent office space in Bingham Farms this summer.
President and CEO Steve Littig and a partner launched IPS in 1992 as a consultant to private sector hospital clients, including Beaumont Hospitals, Henry Ford Health System and University of Michigan Health System. IPS offers targeted services including advanced data analysis, modeling and software development.