MARYVILLE, Mo. – A six-person delegation of students, faculty and staff members from Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, visited Northwest Missouri State University last week with hopes of learning more about the Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and modeling some of its approaches to enhance Kenyatta’s Chandaria Business Innovation and Incubation Centre (BIIC).
The delegation spent Tuesday talking with CIE Director Larry Lee and touring the facility as well as the University’s R.T. Wright Farm and the Northwest campus. Their Northwest visit was part of a tour of business incubation facilities in the Midwest.
Dr. George Kosimbei, director of the Chandaria BIIC, said the delegation sought to visit Northwest because of its ranking on the University Business Incubator (UBI) Index and positive reputation for assisting entrepreneurs. The UBI Index ranked the Hubbard CIE at No. 21 in its University Global Top 25 Rankings, which surveyed more than 300 incubators in 67 countries.
While the delegation also included Kenyatta Deputy Vice Chancellor P.K. Wainaina and Chief Finance Officer J.I. Gitahi, Kosimbei said Kenyatta and its Chandaria BIIC look forward to future collaboration with Northwest and its CIE.
“We will keep in touch and we are ready to explore new opportunities for collaboration,” Kosimbei said. “As an incubator, we want to improve mankind. Because we are based in Kenya we are not saying we will be confined in Kenya or Africa. We want to support businesses that will also have an impact in this part of the world.”
The Hubbard CIE, located on the north edge of the Northwest campus, is a mixed-use incubator with emphasis on technology-based, start-up companies. It provides assistance to existing small businesses and encourages development of new small businesses.
Currently, six tenants occupy the CIE’s business wing. Additionally, the CIE is partnered with seven affiliates who receive guidance and use resources at the CIE but do not lease space.
“Our mission is one of helping entrepreneurs,” Lee told the delegation. “We want to furnish a facility, an area … where they can grow, where they can learn and where we can, in some ways, short-circuit their growth so they don’t have to make all of the mistakes that others have made.”
Designated a Missouri Innovation Center, the 46,679 square-foot CIE includes three lab analysis research areas, a shared scientific instrument room and 9,000 square feet of tenant office space. The academic wing contains more than 16,000 square feet of highly specialized teaching and research labs and offices.
The CIE is positioned within a two-hour driving radius of Kansas City, Des Moines and Omaha, providing companies with access to more than 1.5 million people. At the same time, companies located at the CIE enjoy the benefits of a consistently strong work-ethic and business friendly environment in a smaller rural setting.