The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced a $875,048 grant award to Dixie State University to purchase equipment and support networking activities for the launch of DSU’s Innovation Plaza.
The Innovation Plaza will provide entrepreneurship support for students, entrepreneurs and technology innovators throughout southern Utah.
The southern Utah satellite office of the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) will relocate to Innovation Plaza once the project is complete, providing additional support for innovators in hard science and deep technology.
“We appreciate the leadership and commitment of Dixie State University to expand opportunities to support technology entrepreneurs and innovators,” said Brian Somers, managing director of USTAR. “Building an innovation infrastructure that can support a science and deep technology economy off the Wasatch Front is crucial for creating new industries that can sustain our state’s economic growth.”
Innovation Plaza, which will be housed in the former East Elementary School building, will feature a 10,000 square-foot laboratory for biotechnology, medical, and environmental training research. The state-of-the-art facility will also provide a 6,000 square-foot entrepreneurial makerspace to support rapid prototyping of new and improved technologies. When complete, the Innovation Plaza will create a hub for skills training, collaboration, and development of new ideas with a focus on expanding biotechnology innovation throughout the southern Utah region.
“We are thrilled to create a space where residents and students can access an unprecedented amount of resources to start their business. From concept to company, clients will be able to access state of the art prototyping equipment and other machines in the maker space,” said Don Willie, executive director of the Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (TIE) Center and regional director of the Small Business Development Center. “USTAR will play a critical role in supporting our local innovators, entrepreneurs, and job creators.”
DSU’s Innovation Plaza is set to be finished in summer 2019. USTAR’s Southern Utah satellite office will be located at the Business Resource Center at DSU until the Innovation Plaza is completed. The Southern Utah office supports economic development activities in the science and technology sectors in the region. These activities include collaborating with local and regional universities such as DSU and Southern Utah University and business and government entities, supporting technology commercialization efforts, and providing resources for local entrepreneurs.
To learn more services provided by the USTAR Southern Utah satellite office, contact Corporate & Community Outreach Manager Jared Goodspeed at [email protected].
