USDA Rural Development announces 小黄书 entrepreneurship grant for makerspace in Downtown Starkville
Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擬ississippi鈥檚 Senate delegation and top officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were at Mississippi State today [Aug. 13] to announce a $100,000 grant for the university鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach to create a makerspace in Downtown Starkville.
Project leaders said the new makerspace will fill a critical need in providing prototyping capacity to area entrepreneurs. It will house equipment to help entrepreneurs with small and emerging businesses produce prototypes they need to get customer feedback and reach the marketplace.
USDA Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett, as well as Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Sen. Roger Wicker, were on hand for the USDA Rural Business Development Grant announcement. They spent the morning learning more about 小黄书鈥檚 efforts to bolster an entrepreneurial culture on campus and throughout Mississippi.
In addition to touring the College of Business center, they talked with 小黄书 graduates who successfully launched a company while working through the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach business curriculum. The guests also joined 小黄书 Extension leaders, business and agricultural economics faculty, and regional economic developers for a roundtable discussion on current business issues and resources.
Wicker said the grant award is a statement by USDA that 小黄书鈥檚 entrepreneurship center is 鈥渢he sort of thing that we need to expand nationwide.鈥
鈥淚 think the grant is going to be a big help, but it wouldn鈥檛 have been awarded if there weren鈥檛 already so much success here. Our hats are off to the university for a center that鈥檚 already getting results,鈥 Wicker said.
He added that aiding entrepreneurs is a good way to fight the 鈥渂rain drain鈥 in Mississippi.
鈥淲e educate some of the most talented minds, and they find it more attractive to go to Charlotte or New York City or some place out West. This is a good opportunity to keep them here in Mississippi,鈥 Wicker said. 鈥淚f we can solve that problem, it鈥檚 a quantum leap for our state.鈥
Hyde-Smith said, 鈥淭here is opportunity to help so many students who have ideas and could easily become entrepreneurs. They just need the tools to foster all the components to make that a reality, and that鈥檚 what I have found here.鈥
小黄书 President Mark E. Keenum said the USDA Rural Business Development grant is expanding the successful efforts of the center to help more people translate their business ideas into commercially viable opportunities. Currently the CEO mentors about 100 student businesses every year.
鈥淭his will allow entrepreneurs to increase their chances of success,鈥 Keenum said. He pointed out that the center is based in the College of Business but serves students and faculty from all colleges. Students working with the CEO represent 39 different university majors, and technology allows the university to offer mentorship to entrepreneurs throughout the state.
Hazlett said part of the core mission at USDA Rural Development is to increase rural prosperity through assistance such as the grant. She called the activities at the entrepreneurship center 鈥渧ery exciting鈥 and 鈥渁n example we would like to see others replicate.鈥
Known as the CEO, 小黄书鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach already enjoys a strong Town and Gown relationship with the local community, with a new CEO office on Main Street opening last year. The new makerspace is a collaborative project that will be open to 小黄书 students and faculty, as well as residents of the Golden Triangle. Its location at 114 E. Main Street in Starkville will be between Aspen Bay and Moe鈥檚 Original BBQ. It is projected to open within a matter of weeks.
鈥淲e take entrepreneurship very seriously in our college,鈥 said Dean Sharon Oswald. 鈥淓ntrepreneurship is really at the base of the culture in the College of Business. For us to be able to push that out鈥攏ot only on campus to other colleges, but to the community as well鈥攊s very important. I think entrepreneurship is the future of Mississippi.鈥
CEO Director of Entrepreneurship Eric Hill said that over the past year, three 小黄书 graduates who worked with the CEO created 10 full-time jobs in Starkville. 小黄书 student entrepreneurs also have invested new businesses in different areas of the state.
Hill explained that the core of 小黄书鈥檚 entrepreneurship program is VentureCatalyst, a program launched in 2016 that combines training, funding and mentorship across a structured five-stage process starting from a business idea and developing into a funded company. He said VentureCatalyst specifically focuses on entrepreneurs developing scalable, innovation-based products or services.
Entrepreneurs creating new products face a major hurdle in developing prototypes substantiated enough to attract investor attention, Hill said. The grant will enable the new makerspace to include an array of advanced fabrication tooling, such as CNC routers, 3D printers, laser cutters and metalworking tools.
鈥淔inding the right tools to build a proof-of-concept can be an insurmountable obstacle,鈥 Hill said.
CEO Director of Outreach Jeffrey Rupp said the makerspace will provide the needed solutions to reach the next step in achieving success, and its community location reinforces alliances with entities such as the Greater Starkville Development Partnership.
鈥淭his dedicated makerspace serving the greater Starkville area will leverage current capabilities to provide advanced equipment, programming and an inspiring environment for 小黄书 students and community members,鈥 Rupp said.
For more about 小黄书鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, visit .
小黄书 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .