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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear recently announced that the state is renewing contracts with the six regional Innovation Hubs that support new businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the commonwealth. The Kentucky Innovation Hubs are a partnership between the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Office of Entrepreneurship & Innovation (KY Innovation) and the Kentucky Science & Technology Corporation (KSTC) to drive economic development through entrepreneurship and innovation.
“We are securing Kentucky’s place at the forefront of innovation by continuing to invest in new businesses and entrepreneurs,” said Governor Beshear in a release. “The Innovation Hubs provide incredible opportunities for startup companies to succeed and create quality jobs for Kentucky families.”
Each hub acts as their region’s “front door” to deliver services, while leveraging local partnerships and regional organizations, and assist entrepreneurs across industries and stages of development as they advance their businesses. The hubs’ goal is to increase the likelihood that scalable, venture-backable businesses can be started in Kentucky and can obtain both public and private investments to develop and grow.
The state contracts were awarded through a competitive request for proposals process conducted earlier this year. The awards and funding are based on each hub’s plans to serve and grow entrepreneurship throughout an entire region. As part of the contract renewal process, the coverage areas of the six hubs have been remapped to ensure comprehensive services throughout each region and to better allocate resources to all of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
“There’s a lot of emphasis and focus on the hubs reaching out to a much greater degree, especially into the rural counties to make their services more well known,” said Lisa Bajorinas, the executive director of the Kentucky Innovation Hubs at KSTC who recently spoke with KY Inno about the change. “So creating more awareness, to increasing access to their various services and capabilities.”
The six hubs are:
· Amplify (Louisville)
· Awesome Inc (Lexington)
· Blue North (Covington)
· CREATE (Bowling Green)
· SOAR (Pikeville)
· Sprocket (Paducah)
“This represents an important opportunity to strengthen and grow the hubs’ roles as the front door for all entrepreneurs and startups in their regions, while also capitalizing on Kentucky’s unprecedented economic development momentum. Kentucky is home to thousands of bold, world-class innovators,” said Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Secretary Jeff Noel in a release. “The hubs are a key part of making sure we continue to establish ourselves as a premier destination to ideate, make and launch game-changing products and companies. We congratulate all the awardees and thank each and every organization that responded to the RFP for their willingness to support Kentucky businesses.”
The hubs provide quarterly public updates about their regional activities, sharing success stories and outcomes as they work with founders throughout the year. The next public update is scheduled for July 24, 2024.
Learn more about the hubs and sign up for additional updates as they become available.