Susan W. Matlock

President & CEO, Innovation Depot, Inc.

Susan Matlock is the President and CEO of the Innovation Depot, Inc., a business incubation program that assists in the development of emerging biotechnology/life sciences, information technology and service businesses. In 2007 Innovation Depot was established in its new 140,000 s.f. facility, which represents the coming together of the University of Alabama's biotech/life science incubation program and the mixed-use incubation program Entrepreneurial Center. Ms, Matlock was founding President of the Entrepreneurial Center and Executive Director of the UAB program. The Entrepreneurial Center was named the 2000 Business Incubator of the Year in the mixed-use category by Dun & Bradstreet and the National Business Incubation Association. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Regions Financial Corporation (Compensation Committee). She is a member of the Board of Directors of St. Vincent's Health System (Vice Chairman), as well as the Board of Managers of Ascension Health Ventures, a $325 million investment fund in St Louis. Susan is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Venture Club. She is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Information Technology Association, is a Board member of the Biotechnology Association of Alabama and was 2004 Chairman of Tech Birmingham.

Susan is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Central Alabama and serves on the Advisory Board of the UAB School of Business. She has a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and has taught the Entrepreneurial course offered to Masters in Public and Private Management students at Birmingham-Southern College. She has completed an Executive in Residence program at Harvard Business School and is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham and a graduate of Leadership Birmingham and Leadership Alabama.

She has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) from 1994-95. In 1992 and 1993, NBIA and Coopers & Lybrand recognized a graduate of Entrepreneurial Center as the National Graduate of the Year, in 2002 recognized a tenant at OADI as the National Tenant of the Year and in 2004 & 2005 recognized an OADI graduate as the National Technology Graduate of the year. Ms. Matlock was founding Chairman of the Alabama Business Incubation Network and has been recognized by the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce as Small Business Advocate of the Year and by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the Financial Services Advocate of the Year for the State of Alabama.

In 2004, Ms. Matlock was named by Ernst & Young and the Kauffman Foundation as one of the three finalists for the national "Supporter of Entrepreneurism Award".

Ms. Matlock is a contributing author to two books on business incubation: Growing New Ventures, Creating New Jobs and A Comprehensive Guide to Business Incubation. She has spoken at many conferences in the U.S. and around the world on entrepreneurial development and business incubation including presentations in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Northern Ireland, South Africa and has taught at the Finnish training program for business incubation managers.