A home away from home
Students with an idea, business proposition or sure-fire money-maker, have a way to make those dreams come true with Utah State University’s growing and expanding Innovation Campus.
The Innovation Campus started in 1986 when the first multi-tenant facility was completed. It was originally called the Research Park, but changed its name to Utah State’s Innovation Campus in 2001. According to the Innovation Campus website, it is “a place where university research is used to create a growing business atmosphere.”
Jacoba Mendelkow, Innovation Campus’ public relations representative, said USU realized home-based business would eventually outgrow the garage and therefore created a place where business owners could have a place that would help and provide them with access to the resources they needed.
“University research stays at the university and that’s not what we want,” Mendelkow said. “We want researchers to branch out, create jobs, build the local economy and in order to do that, you have to do it at a place.”
Mendelkow said those are exactly the things Innovation Campus is all about. The campus currently has 40 companies renting out locations within the complex, which currently employs 800 USU students. They have businesses occupying 45 acres of their land, and still have 105 acres with which to expand.
“It’s a place where research can go to be developed, grow into a company, or commercialize in something, or develop in some other aspect of the research process,” Mendelkow said.
Some of the businesses are university spin-offs, meaning the research has been done on campus, been commercialized and used to create a business, while others are local businesses who come looking for a place to rent so their business can grow.
The businesses do not have to be affiliated with USU at all, but once they become a part of the Innovation Campus, the rent they pay for their building or office space includes numerous benefits, such as the use of the Merrill-Cazier Library, discounts on services through Qwest and USU data with a one-gigabit connection.
The Innovation Campus is home to companies such as Convergys, Information Alliance, InTech Collegiate High School and the Space Dynamics Lab. InTech Collegiate High School was an initiative from then-Governor Michael Leavitt to begin the Early College High Schools program at the Universities. It is a public charter school that teaches with an emphasis on math, science and engineering that was started in 2006. It had originally only had two grades, freshmen and sophomores. It now has grown into a four-year high school. Their mission statement states they strive to give every student the opportunity of completing high school and two years of college while still allowing the students to meet all the necessary state graduation requirements.
According to Jason Stranger, principal and CEO of InTech Collegiate High School, the Innovation campus is helpful in helping the staff meet the goals that they have for their students and are always open to allowing the students to do projects in the Space Dynamics Lab and tour some of the other facilities. Allowing the students to get an out-of-classroom experience and see where their math, science and engineering-geared classes can be applied in the real world.
“Not only is the (Innovation Campus) staff responsive when we have a need and have requested assistance, but both Ned Weinshenker (Innovation Campus’ vice president for strategic ventures and economic development) and Monica Neilson (Innovation Campus coordinator) come regularly to the school or invite us over to their offices to see how we are doing, what our students are accomplishing, and what projects we might need help with in the future,” Stranger said.
The Innovation Campus just created a Facebook page for students who would like to become more involved in knowing about upcoming events, job opportunities and the ongoing expansion that is taking place on campus. The campus provides new jobs and internships for students every year, a listing of companies and their available jobs and internships can be found on the Innovation Campus website.
–jessica.black@aggiemail.usu.edu
