ΊΪΑΟΙη

Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.β€”ΊΪΑΟΙη student entrepreneurs are thriving in downtown Starkville, and university and city leaders are identifying new and expanded opportunities to support business startups as they grow into mature companies.

ΊΪΑΟΙη’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, known as the CEO, and the Greater Starkville Development Partnership hosted an open house today [Nov. 17] to showcase space the GSDP has designated for business use by the university center.

β€œThis is a very unique town and gown situation, and we have full support from the mayor and [ΊΪΑΟΙη President] Dr. Keenum,” said Jeffrey Rupp, ΊΪΑΟΙη outreach director for the College of Business.

Mayor Lynn Spruill called the collaboration the β€œperfect” town and gown partnership.

β€œMy hope is that we will have an explosion of this type of business activity. Entrepreneurs become tenants who become long-term tenants and residents of the community and a major part of the fabric of our overall town,” Spruill said.

Scott Maynard, GSDP president and CEO, said that as entrepreneurs have utilized the downtown area, leaders have identified the need for more space.

β€œAt the beginning of the year, we’ll open four additional office suites to be used as incubator space for new businesses,” said Maynard, who was named to his position this year after a long career as director of ΊΪΑΟΙη’s Career Center.

Rahul Gopal is among the young entrepreneurs taking interest. An ΊΪΑΟΙη aerospace engineering and MBA graduate, Gopal founded CampusKnot Inc. along with ΊΪΑΟΙη business graduate Hiten Patel while they were students. Gopal now works full time as CEO and expressed strong interest in moving the company to the GSDP space, where fellow ΊΪΑΟΙη alumnus Hagan Walker has operated his company Vibe for nearly a year, along with his partner Anna Barker, an ΊΪΑΟΙη international business and Spanish major.

β€œOur sales have grown 600 percent year over year from 2016-2017,” said the 2015 electrical engineering graduate, in discussing his product Glo, which safely lights and flavors beverages.

β€œHaving this space lends legitimacy,” he explained. β€œYou need to get people to a place where they are serving the community. It’s nice to have space where people can stop by and we can host meetings.”

ΊΪΑΟΙη students are launching about 80 new businesses a year. A new state-of-the-art CEO space on campus features 12,000 square feet of innovative design including glass β€œidea walls” in McCool Hall, home to the university’s College of Business.

More than $6 million in endowments and private gifts help spur success, and faculty advisers from across disciplines coach students on everything from technology issues to finances. An executive-in-residence program makes senior business leaders throughout the region accessible to budding entrepreneurs seeking advice and encouragement.

Learn more about how ΊΪΑΟΙη supports student entrepreneurship at . The Greater Starkville Development Partnership is online at .

ΊΪΑΟΙη is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .