5 minute read
Adding Access for Entrepreneurs
By Sharon Oswald
Mississippi State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (E-Center) is spreading its wings! Three E-Center projects are underway, all with a common purpose – to enhance access.
The College of Business is receiving $650,000 over two years to establish a new satellite E-Center in Vicksburg. Funding for this project came in response to a call by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee inviting members of Congress to request funding to meet urgent needs in their communities – dubbed “Community Funded Projects.” The E-Center proposed the Vicksburg project, which was brought to the attention of the Mississippi congressional contingency. U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith saw the importance of the project for the state and championed it through Congress.
“We are very thankful for Senator Hyde-Smith’s support of entrepreneurship in the state and, in particular, for seeing the benefits that this project could bring to the state of Mississippi,” notes Eric Hill, Director of the E-Center.
Why Vicksburg? Vicksburg is home to the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). The ERDC brings over $1 billion in funded research to Mississippi each year. While that sounds like an astonishing number, at any given time about half of that research flows right back out of the state through sub-contracting awards. In other words, there is currently no infrastructure in the state to spearhead the conversion of this technology into commercial businesses. This is where the E-Center can help.
Taking the helm of the Vicksburg project is two-time MSU graduate Ryan Gilbrech, a biomedical engineer with an MBA. Gilbrech knows what it takes to champion a start-up all the way to firstround investment. Serving as Senior Project Manager, he is a serial entrepreneur and founder of investment-backed MetaGames.
“My job is to partner the incredible technologies coming out of ERDC with anyone interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial venture,” explains Gilbrech. “On a broad scope, this office is positioned to be a resource for entrepreneurship in the city, region and even the state.”
The campus E-Center expansion will include private “think tanks” with soundproof oneto-two person spaces equipped for video conferencing.
Image courtesy of PryorMorrow
Hill adds, “If you total the funding behind all technologies coming out of ERDC with all Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) schools in the state, it comes to nearly $2 billion. Ryan should have plenty of work to keep him busy!”
The new center will primarily support start-ups around research emerging from the ERDC as well as IHL institutions but will also be available for businesses based on technologies from other sources. It will be housed in the Mississippi Center for Innovation Technology (MCITy). Currently Gilbrech is working in the MCITy building in a space on the third floor until the new center is completed, which is slotted for some time after the first of the year. The Vicksburg E-Center will be about 2,000 square feet and will include a training room, working space for entrepreneurs, Gilbrech’s office and another office for a to-be-named program coordinator.
Back in Starkville, another Hyde-Smith supported Community Funded Project proposed by the E-Center is underway. The project, financed at $1.5 million over four years, will provide working space in Starkville’s Downtown Innovation Hub, including eight private offices and 14 open workspaces.
“We currently have four companies waiting to occupy space in the new area,” shares Hill. “We have had an increasing need for affordable workspace in the Starkville area for several years. The pandemic changed the way we think of a traditional office, making remote working more acceptable and prevalent.”
For those occasions when centralized physical working and meeting space is needed, the Innovation Hub will fit the bill.
Hill further notes that he hopes the space will entice more software developers to stay in Starkville.
“Many companies in the area need software developers on a part-time basis,” he remarks. “Providing adequate workspace might attract a critical mass of developers.”
The co-working space should be ready for occupation within the first quarter of 2023.
Speaking about both projects, Hyde-Smith states, “These are important investments in Starkville and Vicksburg to facilitate entrepreneurship and empower the talented up-and-coming minds who will be key to making a strong and better place to live and work. We must create more places for them to thrive if we expect them to stay.”
Finally, the E-Center has one more expansion in the works, to be funded primarily through private donations. Plans are underway to double the size of the current center in McCool Hall, encompassing part of the hallway in front of Rogers Auditorium and expanding into space between the current center and the Atrium. When completed, the E-Center will have an entrance and exhibition space off the Atrium and will provide more student workspace, soundproof booths and two additional offices. The current combined valuations of E-Center companies are over $33 million.
The connectivity of these projects is truly access. Vicksburg provides access to a new population of entrepreneurs. The Hub project provides greater access to a community of fellow founders. And the McCool Hall project provides increased access to a state-of-the-art, inspiring workplace in which to imagine and build a business. Echoing Senator Hyde-Smith, all three projects are geared to both empower and support talented individuals.
Starkville’s Downtown Innovation Hub will include eight private offices and 14 open workspaces.
Image courtesy of PryorMorrow
