Lorain County Community College is on a roll.
Earlier this month, the Elyria institution was picked as one of 10 community colleges to participate in a national business incubation model. And this week, the White House endorsed Innovation Fund America, which LCCC will develop as part of its involvement in the incubation initiative.
The virtual incubator, a pilot funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, was announced as part of President Obama's Startup America Partnership.
Startup America is designed to increase the success of entrepreneurs through collaborative initiatives among businesses, institutions of higher learning, private foundations and others.
According to an LCCC news release, the virtual incubator initiative "will be implemented in collaboration with the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship. Eventually it will include other partnerships through a national network of small business incubation centers, like the
Great lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE) on the LCCC campus."
GLIDE is a business incubation organization serving a 21-county area of northeast Ohio.
According to the news release, "the virtual incubator network will work to increase the capacity of community colleges to service their startup business community." They will do that by studying and implementing best practice and will "demonstrate ways for established business leaders and emerging small business entrepreneurs to work together to help grow local businesses."
On Tuesday, the White House gave its thumbs up to the launch of
Innovation Fund America, which LCCC says is modeled after its own innovation fund. The national innovation fund will be part of the incubator pilot and will help high-tech entrepreneurs across the country access "funding and talent when they need it most," LCCC says.
The
Lorain County Community College Innovation Fund is supported by both private and public sources, including the
Ohio Third Frontier.
Attempts to reach LCCC officials for additional information were unsuccessful.
Source: Lorain County Community College