Staff & Leadership

Staff

Laura Frerichs
Director

Laura Frerichs is the University of Illinois Research Park Director. She is responsible for managing incubation services at EnterpriseWorks, marketing the Research Park, and supporting the University’s economic development efforts. Laura manages programming of events and services to support entrepreneurs and businesses in the Research Park. Prior to her current role, Laura was Vice President of Business Development & Marketing at Fox Development Corporation, the private developer of the Research Park, and she successfully attracted and retained dozens of companies during her tenure there. Laura is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Media and served as Student Body President at the Urbana-Champaign campus. She is active in the community and participated in numerous organizations including on the Board of Directors of the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation. She has received many awards including “Woman of the Year” by Central Illinois Business Magazine for the Forty Under Forty business awards, 2009; the Entrepreneur Advocacy Award at the Champaign County Innovation Celebration, 2011; and the 2013 Athena Young Professional Award.

lfrerich@illinois.edu
(217) 333-8323
Roger West
Accounting Associate

Roger West is the Research Park Accounting Associate, he oversees the finances of the Research Park and EnterpriseWorks. Roger is a CPA with a wonderful background that includes a mix of entrepreneurship, technology, construction, and University financial audits.  He has most recently worked as the Director of Accounts at Common Ground Publishing in the Research Park, which used to be located in EnterpriseWorks. He also worked as a Controller at Broeren Russo Construction and Vogel Bros. Construction learning about the construction business, which should come in handy with our new building projects in the Research Park. He worked as an accountant at two small accounting firms when he began his career.  Roger and his family live in Savoy, IL. 

rwest@illinois.edu
217-244-7745
Laura Bleill
Marketing Coordinator

Laura Weisskopf Bleill is the Marketing Coordinator for the University of Illinois Research Park. She is responsible for overseeing the marketing and communications for the Research Park and EnterpriseWorks incubator, including publications, media/external relations, digital content, social media, and event planning. A former daily newspaper reporter, Bleill is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism; her work has appeared in publications across the country, including daily newspapers, magazines and online.

Bleill is also an entrepreneur, and co-owns chambanamoms.com, a local online magazine geared towards Champaign-Urbana families. Bleill is an active volunteer with many organizations including the United Way; Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation; The Stephens Family YMCA; and Sinai Temple. Bleill and her husband, Tony, live in Champaign with their three daughters, Nessa, Sarah, and Neena.

lwbleill@illinois.edu
(217) 244-7744
Ali Thompson
Alexandra Thompson
Program Coordinator

Ali first began working at the Research Park as an intern in May 2011. After completing her Master of Urban Planning degree at UIUC in May 2012 she joined the team full-time as Program Coordinator.  Her responsibilities include supporting operations at UI’s research parks, incubators and affiliate incubator; assisting with Research Park planning and development; and preparing proposals for technology commercialization grant opportunities. Prior to her studies in Champaign, Ali worked at Ernst & Young where she consulted Fortune 100 companies on finance and supply chain process improvements.  She was also previously a finance and operations analyst at Sprint Nextel.  Ali has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  She has a BA in German and has worked and studied in Germany and Austria.

althomp2@illinois.edu
217-300-2147
Paula Baucum-Williams
Business Administrative Associate

Paula joined the EnterpriseWorks team as a Business Administrative Associate in January 2012. Paula's responsibilities include assisting with building operations; inventory management, purchasing and support for accounting; events; and administrative support for the Research Park and EnterpriseWorks. Paula has most recently been working for the City of Champaign in the Office of the City Manager managing administrative staff, payroll, and office support. She previously worked for the University of Illinois Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) as the Assistant to the Associate Director for 16 years. She has a BS degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Walden University. 

pwillms@illinois.edu
217-300-5535

Leadership


The Research Park Board of Managers has the following composition:

One Board of Trustees representative (Edward L. McMillan); three business and industry leaders (Patrick Daly, Roderick Johnson, and Rick Stephens); and the Vice Chancellors for Research at the Urbana and Chicago campuses. The Vice President/Chief Financial Officer and Comptroller and Vice President for Research serve as non-voting members. The board includes academic representatives as voting members from each campus: Sharon M. Donovan (Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair in Nutrition and Health, UIUC) and Mark Donovan (Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services and Executive Director for Facilities Management and Capital Programs, UIC).

The Research Park Board of Managers external members (non UI employees) include: 

  • Chairman: Edward L. McMillan, also serves on the UI Board of Trustees 
  • Vice-Chairman: Pat Daly, The Daly Group LLC
  • Rick Stephens, Horizon Hobby
  • Roderick Johnson, private consultant

University of Illinois Research Park, LLC Board of Managers Meeting Documents

  • April 13, 2012, Board of Managers, Meeting via Conference Call at 1:30 pm, Agenda
  • October 8, 2012, Board of Managers Meeting in Urbana, Agenda
  • February 4, 2013, Board of Managers Meeting via Conference Call at 11 a.m. Agenda