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Grant County, In -- U.S. Senator Evan Bayh announced yesterday that the Grant County Economic Growth Council
was awarded the Rural Business Opportunity Grant for $50,000 from the USDA’s Office of Rural Development.
The bulk of the grant will go to support the creation of a high-tech/high growth business incubator in Grant County using the expertise at Taylor University’s Center for Research & Innovation (CR&I) on the Upland campus. The Growth Council will work closely with the CR&I to develop the Grant County Innovators Network Center (GCINC) ultimately providing space for one anchor tenant and up to 20 on-premise incubator clients.
“This grant will give Taylor University students and faculty tremendous opportunity to “rub shoulders with the real world,” said Dr. Don Takehara, Director of the CR&I. “They will be responsible for writing and submitting a full business plan for the Grant County Innovators Network Center - the next critical step for making our community business incubator a reality. In addition to meeting this real need for Grant County, the real-life experience for students will be key training for these future leaders of our state and our country.”
Part of the grant will also be used for The Innovative Network’s I-69 Collegiate Challenge in February 2008. This weekend challenge brings together five students from the I-69 corridor schools, Anderson University, Ball State University, Huntington University, Indiana Wesleyan University, and Taylor University, to compete in a unique business plan competition.
"I commend the Grant County Economic Growth Council and Taylor University's Center for Research and Innovation for this critically important initiative,” said State Representative Dan Burton. “Historically, more than 75 percent of start-up small businesses fail within their first four years of operation. With small businesses today accounting for approximately 80 percent of the jobs that are created in America reducing this failure rate is becoming a matter of national importance. The small business incubators concept has proven to be one of the most effective and efficient ways of helping small start-up firms survive in the market. In fact, statistics show that more than 87 percent of incubator graduates are still in business five years after leaving the incubator. This is a great investment in the future of Grant County and I look forward to helping the Council and Taylor University turn this idea into reality."
“We would not have received this grant without the partnership and expertise of Jacquie Dodyk and our friends at the Affordable Housing Corporation,” said Tim Eckerle, executive director of the Growth Council. “They provided invaluable support in the grant writing process.”
“The Grant County Economic Growth Council sees this as an excellent way to broaden the support for entrepreneurial development in Grant County,” said Craig Miller, vice president of planning for the Grant County Economic Growth Council and member of the Innovative Network board of directors. “Additionally this financial support will allow for the further growth and development of Taylor University’s Center for Research and Innovation.”
Additional project partners include the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (Rural Capacity Grant) and the Grant County Innovative Network, Indiana Wesleyan University, Ivy Tech Community College, Marion-Grant County Chamber of Commerce, Affordable Housing Corporation, Community Foundation of Grant County, Family Service Society, and LEAD, Inc.
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