Bioscience & Technology Business Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205349674
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lawrence, KS, USA
Phone
7858322110
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,943,527
Expenses
$5,260,690
Assets
$46,536,366
Liabilities
$26,374,942

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BONNIE LOWE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ADAM COURTNEY (VP FINANCE): $318,579 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization's mission is to create, recruit, grow and retain technology and bioscience businesses in northeast Kansas with the ultimate vision to build a more modern, resilient and diverse regional economy.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, the bioscience and technology business center (btbc), doing business as ku innovation park (the park), continued its efforts to create, recruit, grow, and retain technology and bioscience companies in northeast Kansas, with the goal of building a more modern, resilient, and diverse regional economy. In march, adam courtney, a longtime employee and chief financial officer, was named ceo after serving as interim ceo for several months. The park secured 22 million in federal funding for its next facility, the phase iv building, which will house the Kansas national security innovation center, among other entities. The park expanded its staff by hiring chris rehkamp as the director of business services, providing an immediate boost to support for startup and established companies within its facilities and beyond. The phase iii facility reached capacity in may, housing 11 companies from various industries, including engineering and architecture, bioscience and animal health, and government agencies. The park launched multiple new programs, including free monthly lunch-and-learns on topics aimed at entrepreneurs, a capital raise boot camp, and laid the groundwork for an accelerator program scheduled for january 2025 to help university researchers bring discoveries to market. Throughout 2024, the park added four companies, bringing its total to 74, which created 70 jobs and added over 700,000 to the annual payroll, totaling 750 jobs and a 49.7 million annual payroll across the park system. Thanks to a grant from the Kansas department of commerce, the park created a new capital option, the oread angel investors network. In its first pitch event, network members invested over 500,000 in startups affiliated with the university of Kansas or the park. Overall, the park continues to serve the needs of bioscience and technology companies by providing: 1) specialized lab and office space on the west campus of the university of Kansas, 2) business development services, 3) access to the university in a variety of ways, including collaborative research, lab access and a talent pipeline, 4) recruitment and relocation assistance, 5) access to capital through the angel network, various venture capital parnters, and through education and support for grant applications, and 6) access to the vast network of resources the park has created through collaboration and partnership.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 69% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.3%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 92.3%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.4%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.85; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.57; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 30.2% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.3% of revenue deployed · 92.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $319K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1M reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.