Empowering Innovation in Northern Kentucky
Universities help aspiring Northern Kentucky entrepreneurs turn ideas into successful business ventures.
Northern Kentucky entrepreneurs make up a key part of the region’s lifeblood, injecting vitality and innovation into its economic ecosystem.
Helping foster the region’s startup scene are several colleges and universities that not only provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the training, skills and education needed to develop their business ideas, but also connect students with industry professionals, potential collaborators and investors.
Shaping Northern Kentucky Entrepreneurs
Thomas More University, a Catholic-based liberal arts university in Crestview Hills, is swiftly emerging as an innovation destination, serving as a beacon for entrepreneurial minds and a catalyst for groundbreaking ideas.
“We are shaping the entrepreneurial leaders of tomorrow,” says Jeni Al Bahrani, director of Thomas More University’s Dr. Anthony ’65 and Geraldine ’66 Zembrodt Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ZCEI). “By emphasizing a liberal arts education, we ensure that students are equipped with the necessary business acumen, problem-solving skills, leadership capabilities and entrepreneurial spirit.”
ZCEI features an incubator space that provides students, faculty and staff with an environment to explore and refine ideas before launching them into the marketplace. The center also offers networking opportunities, entrepreneurship and innovation courses, a mentorship program and a speaker series.
“Higher education is overlooked when it comes to economic development,” Al Bahrani says.
“Specifically, the ZCEI program plays a role in our ecosystem as a central hub for talent recruitment, producing the next generation of entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses and nurturing innovation to partner with our economic development community to contribute to the future growth of our region. Our graduates go on to start businesses and/or work with current businesses to help them grow and innovate.”
Skills for Success
The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) also provides a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing programs, workshops and mentorship opportunities. Its 12-week business accelerator that runs during the summer has been ranked among the top such programs in the country.
“We prepare students for careers in entrepreneurship,” says Zac Strobl, director of NKU’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “We have startup internships and fellowships, pitch competitions and student clubs. We also have a major and minor in entrepreneurship, both of which attract students with diverse backgrounds.”
Strobl says while approximately 51 businesses have been launched in the last 10 years by graduates, that only accounts for 20% of students engaged in the program.
He says the other 80% go on to successful careers using the skills they learn at the center.
“These students have the top skills that employers want, such as problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and being innovative,” he says. “Those are skills we are teaching our students, so they become very talented employees to help the local economy, as well.”
R&D Powerhouse
As a Research I institution boasting more than $615 million in research spending in fiscal 2022, the University of Cincinnati excels at creating new technologies and spawning marketable businesses.
“The ability to harness one’s research or technology and turn that into a company is crucial,” says Kate Harmon, executive director for the University of Cincinnati’s Center for Entrepreneurship. “Another area where we contribute to the entrepreneurial landscape is our student talent pipeline. We have the ability to train new people coming into the job market, and a lot of startups can benefit from that ready skilled labor, and it can be very helpful to them when building their company.”
Over the last five years, an eight-week accelerator program has funded 300 startup teams to the tune of $3.8 million, and Harmon says resulting businesses have gone on to generate more than $50 million in revenue.
“The program is open not only to UC students, faculty, staff and alumni, but also all community members, so this is something that we are really proud to offer as a resource to the region,” she says.
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