The University of Central Arkansas announced Wednesday its partnership with Startup Junkie Consulting and the Central Arkansas Venture Team (CAVT) to launch a public-private initiative called “Conductor” to drive entrepreneurship and innovation.
An event is set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to launch the Conductor initiative at UCA Downtown. The Conductor will focus on delivering mentoring, counseling, training, capital readiness and technical assistance to startups, small businesses and emerging investors in central Arkansas, according to a news release. It will also provide innovation and commercialization support for all of UCA’s academic programs.
The Conductor is sponsored by the university and powered by the CAVT, a group of executive consultants, coaches, local leaders and experts.
“Conway has a very unique set of assets, as does UCA. It is critical that we begin leveraging these collective assets to drive innovation and entrepreneurship," CAVT team leader Jeff Standridge said in the release. "The difference in leveraging the services of the Conductor for a student, faculty or any other aspiring entrepreneur could literally mean the difference between getting their idea off the ground and never seeing any benefit from their idea or invention.”
Standridge also said the initiative had been in the works for more than three years.
Part of the Conductor project is the building of an on-campus makerspace with advanced tools, technology and equipment.
The space is being constructed through the university’s partnership with the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub of North Little Rock, which is part of Winrock International.
Entrepreneurs are encouraged to use the 1,000-SF facility, which will be built as part of a new center that includes shops and a student dorm. It will be modeled after the Innovation Hub’s North Little Rock location.
Joel Gordon, director of making for the Hub, told Arkansas Business that it took about nine months to plan this part of the Conductor project and two people will be hired to work at the new makerspace.
The equipment the Hub will be bringing in cost $30,000-$50,000, Gordon added. In contrast to a typical woodworking-type shop with saws and hammers, this will be a digital facility, with 3D printers and computers. It will be somewhere people can make “21st century crafts,” he said.
Gordon also said Arkansas is “a little ahead of the curve” in embracing the maker movement by having facilities like this.
A group from UCA visited the Hub earlier this year.
"We talked about what they wanted to do for their community and things just fell into place ... UCA has a great team," Gordon said in a news release. "We are very happy to be collaborating with them.”
Over the next few months, the Hub said it will be looking at the innovation and entrepreneurial needs of students, faculty and staff to ensure that the new space adequately serves the campus and surrounding community.
In planning the new makerspace, Gordon has worked closely with TJ Johnston, director of special university projects/community affairs at UCA; Nabholz Construction of Conway and Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects of Little Rock.
Arkansas Business will update this story.