Commonwealth Center for Commercialization Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832425275
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Frankfort, KY, USA
Phone
5025647670
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Reported finances

Revenue
$43,428
Expenses
$14,813,687
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN MEFFORD (DIRECTOR & PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JACKSON ANDREWS (DIRECTOR & TREASURER)
  • AARON THOMPSON (DIRECTOR)
  • WENDY LEA (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization's mission is to support and accelerate science and technology invention and entrepreneurship across the state of Kentucky by providing capital investments to small and medium-sized Kentucky based companies while administering the initiatives and programs of the Kentucky innovation act, including administering the objectives of the Kentucky enterprise fund, the Kentucky rural innovation fund, and the Kentucky commercialization fund

What it reported doing in 2019

The organization will review applications, qualify companies, and certify qualified companies who wish to benefit from the Kentucky enterprise fund, the Kentucky rural innovation fund, or the Kentucky commercialization fund. The organization has an application process to determine which companies are undergoing projects that are likely to produce measureable results and be technically sound, lead to innovative technology or new knowledge, lead to commercially successful products, processes, or services within a reasonable period of time, or show significant potential for stimulating economic growth and a reasonable probability to enchance employment opportunities within the commonwealth of Kentucky.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

STRONG - 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: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.8%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -34,010.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 200% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -198.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -200% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $14.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2018 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.