It seems like a stretch to imagine that computer software designed to help Navy submarines tell the difference between an underwater attacker and a whale would be of any use in Montana.

We have so few oceans and whales.

But people at Bozeman's Tech Park found out about the Navy software and talked to the guy who invented it. They learned that he thought his risk-assessment program could be useful for banks trying to watch out for credit risks.

Now Zoot Enterprises, http://zootweb.com headquartered in Four Corners, has licensed the software to see if it can put the defense technology to commercial use.

Will Swearingen, executive director of the TechLink program, said that's one reason TechLink was created by Montana State University back in 1996. It puts technology developed for NASA and the Department of Defense into the hands of entrepreneurs, helps businesses land federal research seed money, and helps them collaborate with federal scientists.

On Friday, three-dozen people, headed by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., gathered at the TechLink office to celebrate its success.

The Defense Department recently named TechLink one of the nation's nine best examples of technology-transfer programs, out of about 1,000 nationwide.

Last year, TechLink accounted for one-third of the Defense Department's new agreements to license patents to businesses.

TechLink works, Swearingen said, because its 17 staff members don't sit back and wait for companies to come to them. They go out hunting for businesses that could benefit from the program.

Like S&K Electronics, http://www.skecorp.com one of the state's largest electronics companies, owned by the Salish-Kootenai tribe.

S&K President Larry Hall said TechLink helped it find technology from a night-vision lab in Virginia and use it to manufacture lighter, more efficient gear for laser range-finders used by soldiers in combat.

TechLink also helped Visual Learning Systems http://www.vls-inc.com of Missoula show its invention -- software that scrutinizes satellite images -- to NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab. The company has since grown to 17 employees.

Because of such success, TechLink this year became a permanent part of the Defense Department tech-transfer budget, which provides about $2 million a year. That means it will no longer have have to depend on Burns "earmarking" it into bills.

MSU President Geoff Gamble praised TechLink's "incredible" achievements and said while Burns' assistance is sometimes labeled as political pork, his efforts directly benefit Montana companies and communities.

Businessmen and MSU leaders praised Burns for making TechLink possible, championing Montana's high-tech industry and helping create high-quality, good-paying jobs.

The Soviets locked up their technology because they were afraid of their own people, Burns said.

"This country says, 'If we develop technology, let's get it in the private sector so we can improve our lives,'" he said. "'Make it work for all of us.'"

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