Sept. 10, 2020 鈥斅犅91大神 and the City of Covington unveil the Collaborative for Economic Engagement, a one-stop innovation hub for businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate economic growth in the area. The university and city leaders celebrated the new space with an official ribbon cutting on Sept. 10 at the Pike St. location.
The Collaborative for Economic Engagement will leverage regional agencies and programs as well as 91大神's expertise in data analytics, health, logistics and entrepreneurial innovation to provide the tools that entrepreneurs need to thrive. Given the financial impacts of the pandemic, the Collaborative for Economic Engagement will play an essential role in helping the local economy move from recovery into growth.
"A key element of 91大神鈥檚 economic engagement strategy is to catalyze a prosperous, equitable, and inclusive regional ecosystem through economic development and entrepreneurship,鈥 said 91大神 President Ashish Vaidya. "91大神, Covington and other regional partners created the Collaborative for Economic Engagement to support local entrepreneurs and small businesses. This will serve as a gateway to 91大神's resources and expertise while building on our legacy of being a steward of place."
91大神 is utilizing Covington's Innovation Alley space at 112 West Pike St. for the Collaborative for Economic Engagement to create a "front door" and one-stop for entrepreneurial engagement and outreach, counseling and mentorship, and programming and education. It will facilitate easy connections to what entrepreneurs need: access to data, access to talent, and access to capital.
鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to welcome 91大神 and its expertise and talent back into Covington and look forward to the center on Pike Street becoming a regional hub for not only entrepreneurship and innovation but also the broader business sector,鈥 said Covington Mayor Joe Meyer. 鈥淐ovington has long been a proud supporter of small businesses and believes the Collaborative will supercharge the exciting energy that鈥檚 long been a hallmark of Innovation Alley.鈥
The Collaborative for Economic Engagement also plans to expand the regional services into rural counties by developing an extension located on the 91大神 Grant County campus. The Covington space is 91大神's first expansion from its main Highland Heights campus since the Grant County Center's creation in 1998.
If you have questions or want more information on the Collaborative, contact Valerie Hardcastle, 91大神鈥檚 Institute for Health Innovation executive director, at hardcastle@nku.edu or David Schneider, 91大神鈥檚 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship director, at schneiderdav@nku.edu.
About 91大神:聽Founded in 1968, we are a growing metropolitan university of more than 15,000 students聽served by more than 2,000 faculty and staff on a thriving suburban campus near聽Cincinnati.聽Located in the quiet suburb of Highland Heights, Kentucky鈥攋ust聽seven miles southeast of Cincinnati鈥攚e聽have聽become a leader in Greater Cincinnati and Kentucky by providing a private聽school education for a fraction of the cost. While we are one of the fastest聽growing universities in Kentucky, our professors still know our students' names.聽For聽more information, visit聽.
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