Emporia Main Street’s inclusion in the K-State 105 Entrepreneurial Blueprint Initiative’s first cohort of partners keeps the Fabrication Lab on its current trajectory while giving it the technology to speed up production.
That’s the take from Main Street Director Casey Woods, a guest on KVOE’s Morning Show on Monday.
Woods credited Fab Lab Director Jeremy Wharton and several volunteers for going above and beyond, including taking projects home for off-hours work, to ensure projects stayed largely on schedule as new work was requested. The Fab Lab gets $125,000 for technology upgrades so it can meet the current and future demand.
Woods says last week’s announcement comes at a good time for Emporia, which is still coming to grips with recent closure announcements from Tyson Foods, Holiday Resort, Bling, Buckle and other businesses. He says a local economy is always stronger when it’s diverse.
The Blueprint Initiative partnerships are meant to build what K-State calls “a statewide ecosystem” by developing businesses through work in four categories:
*Job creation, including entrepreneurship training, start-up support, economic development planning and business attraction
*Capital and equity investment, with items like financial products, loan and equity programs, partner matching funds and help facilitating investor connections
*Business development, including consulting, financial projections, prototype development, licensing and registration
*Technical assistance and workforce development, like grant writing, housing assessments, childcare coaching, community assessments and educational workshops
*Click here for more information about the K-State 105 Entrepreneurial Blueprint Initiative.
*Click here for more information about the Emporia Main Street Fab Lab.
