The new building under construction along Mitchell Avenue on West Campus is the Christopher S. “Kit” Bond Science and Technology Incubator, which will be used to give small businesses a place to start their new ideas.
Chris Shove, Dean of the Western Institute, played a major role in getting the grant and funds to put the incubator idea into action.
Dr. Shove proposed the idea when he arrived at Western in 2004 and applied for a federal grant in 2005, which was received in 2006 in the amount of $2.5 million dollars.
“The purpose of this type of an incubator is to develop new businesses and new technologies,” Shove said.
Although the incubator is designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs grow, it will also house classrooms and laboratories.
Many of these businesses and technologies will be the product of students, faculty and entrepreneurs.
Although construction won’t be completed until the summer of 2008, the building already has a tenant, The Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences. Dr. Gary Clapp, President/CEO of the Institute, described another way the incubator can help small businesses.
“We see the incubator building being used to support gestation of businesses for two to five years,” Clapp said.
Dr. Clapp described the building as having mixed uses such as office and laboratory activities as well as training functions to grow the businesses.
“We have talked about training and educational activities we can perform in the STI (Science and Technology Incubator),” Clapp said.
The STI will provide a low cost area for these small businesses to develop their inventions and other projects.
“It will have small offices and lab spaces for up to about 15 companies,” Shove said.
The kinds of businesses and people who will be working in the incubator will vary.
Jackie Lee, a research assistant for Dr. Shove, did small business analysis to see how the building could be the most productive.
“I went around the area to see what trends and businesses would most benefit from the incubator,” Lee said.
Dr. Shove further explained the benefits the STI can have for students and faculty.
“It allows a pathway for professors and students who are inventive and want to try new ideas to move them forward,” Shove said.
The incubator is a large step in the future goal of Missouri Western creating a science and technology village on West Campus.
“It will have shops, cafes, potentially housing in it that could be dorm space as well as research buildings and the incubator,” Shove said.
When the incubator is complete, Missouri Western will be the only college or university in the state that has one.