Grand Junction –Officials will gather January 29 to celebrate the opening of the Colorado Mesa University Innovation and Cyber Security Center. The new center will co-locate the Maverick Innovation Center and the Cyber Security Center as well as other technology related stakeholders at CMU.
“As innovation accelerates on campus the center will add capacity to support the outcomes of increasing creativity here on campus,” said CMU President Tim Foster. “Business incubation, technology transfer and development of intellectual property rights are just a few examples of what we expect as outcomes from this new collaborative facility.”
The center is expected to create synergy between users through close proximity and shared workspaces between faculty, students and community experts. The center will offer students from all academic backgrounds the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial ideas and turn those ideas into reality by working with people from a diversity of other programs and disciplines.
In addition to being open 24/7 for students, community members and businesses will be able to solicit support from the center as specialized cyber-security services will be available to the larger community later in 2019.
“CMU’s trend-bucking growth and expansion is a result of projects just like the innovation center. This space is the only one like it in western Colorado,” said Innovation Center Director Tom Benton. “The project will incubate technological creativity that will create solutions for some of the community’s most pressing challenges, while providing unique opportunity for student learning and growth.”
According to the CMU Foundation, the center also offers businesses and entrepreneurs additional advantages of being located in designated economic opportunity zones that include tax benefits. Examples include the Hub Zone, Opportunity Zone, Enterprise Zone and Rural Jump Start programs. CMU Vice President of Development and Foundation CEO Liz Meyer said the center is a good place for businesses and entrepreneurs who want to solve challenges.
“Investing in the center allows for some of the most unique tax friendly approaches to innovating in Colorado,” said Meyer. “We are encouraging appointments for folks who are interested both in the innovation center and in saving money through these tax advantaged investments in CMU students.”
The center and associated program of cyber security will be located in a highly accessible location making coordination between businesses, students and faculty convenient for all partners.
Media are encouraged to attend the opening of the facility on Tuesday, January 29 at 5pm. The Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce will help celebrate the center through the organization’s monthly Business After Hours networking event directly following the center’s opening ceremony.
The center is located at 730 Mesa Avenue in Grand Junction and has limited but available lease space for qualified tenants. Parking is available in the designated lot on 7th street and Mesa Avenue.