Mansfield's Braintree Business Development Center, in conjunction with the Center for Innovative Food Technology, recently sponsored a nanotechnology workshop at the Tuscarawas campus of Kent State University. The event highlighted the nanotechnology that creates antimicrobial qualities in surfaces found in large kitchens, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and the like. Bob Cohen is the CEO of the Mansfield company, which supports small business startups, particularly those that bring cutting edge technology to the marketplace. “It’s like a continuum,” he explains. “Early on they need advice, next a source of funding, and ultimately when they have commercialized a product, they need markets.” “We put on a number of events for entrepreneurs, such as international training events, specific workshops, and in the case of the nanotechnology conference, to showcase products they’ve developed to potential customers.” Foremost at the conference was Micropyretics Heaters International (MHI Inc.), a Cincinnati based manufacturer of innovative non-toxic heating materials and devices, all manufactured in Ohio and exported to over 25 countries. Cohen explains, “This nanotechnology actually changes the qualities of the surface, making it resistance to microbes. The technology becomes standard equipment pretty quickly, because nobody wants to be left behind. And it already has an export market.” Braintree has also recently awarded three entrepreneurs Tech Sprout development grants. Rapid Forms (construction forms) and Lapkey Board (ergonomic computers) are both located in Manstield, while RKN Inc. (hand sanitizers to prevent Hospital Acquired Infections) is located in Euclid.