On November 17th, President William D. Underwood announced that The Stetson School of Business at Mercer University would soon witness the opening of a new entrepreneurship center, dedicated to the development of innovation and economic growth.
“Innovation is a primary driver of the U.S. economy,” President Underwood said, emphasizing the importance of encouraging growth from within- such as the jobs being created through startup companies and the expansion of pre-existing businesses. “The Mercer Innovation Center will provide physical space, programming, technology resources and tools, and access to talent that will help people with good ideas turn them into commercially successful businesses that create 21st century jobs for Middle Georgia,” he said.
Also present at the November 17th announcement was Lt. Gov. of Georgia Casey Cagle. Cagle reiterated his belief that Georgia could become the ‘Silicon Valley of the South’, and emphasized the importance of this new center for increasing job creation and a stable economic ecosystem which can help Georgia become a true leader in nationwide business.
The center will be created with inspiration from Stetson’s entrepreneur-in-residence David Cummings and his Atlanta Technology Village, founded in 2012. ATV, which is sponsored by Mercer, has quickly become the largest technology entrepreneur center in the Southeast, featuring more than 200 startups and 900 entrepreneurs in residence.
The new center at Mercer was developed with support from the John S. and Jamees L. Knight Foundation, who assisted in conducting a feasability study. The study ultimately determined that the Mercer Innovation Center would be overwhelmingly successful in creating new jobs, new startups, and new marketable products which would help boost the overall economy of the region.
It is planned for the Center to be located in a repurposed facility, across the street from Mercer’s new undergraduate sciences building and only steps away from Stetson. Much of the funding for the center will come from a partnership between the University and the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority, as well as local entrepreneurs and business leaders.