Innovation Campus News 3-15-2024

BOWLING GREEN, KY VOTED TOP 7

Great news! Bowling Green, Kentucky has been ranked 7th in Southern Living's "The South's Best Cities on the Rise 2024". This shows that Bowling Green is rapidly growing and developing. We are proud to be a part of this growth as the WKU Innovation Campus.

2024 CIVIC IMAGINATION INCUBATOR RETURNS

We are deeply excited to have officially kicked off the second cohort of our Civic Imagination Incubator for storytellers in the region! Thanks to the Bowling Green Daily News for featuring the hard work of our new folks, to our colleagues at University of Southern California Civic Imagination Project for helping lead the kickoff, and Western Kentucky University Potter College of Arts & Letters for their partnership. Everyone is invited to Checkout a few of our storytellers on LinkedIn: Lamont 'Jack' Pearley, Elon Justice, Nesma Soliman, Shawn Quinn, Nessa Unseld, and Payton May.

Last fall, the WKU Innovation Campus hosted AccelerateKY and University of Southern California Civic Imagination Project’s “Civic Imagination and Worldbuilding Conference” in Bowling Green. If you missed out, you still have time to view the conference. CLICK HERE Thanks to CREATE at WKU Innovation Campus: Central Region Ecosystem for Arts, Technology, and Entrepreneurship for co-hosting the event!

MEMBER OF THE MONTH LUNCH & LEARN

Level Up your Productivity with Kanban Boards and Sprints

We will be sharing tools and tips for visually organizing and prioritizing tasks for both work and home. You’ll learn how to do:

Capacity planning
Delegation
Sprint planning

For working more efficiently as a team and as an individual. Whether you're a entrepreneur launching a startup or a seasoned business owner looking to refine your strategy, this luncheon will cover a variety of information to help level up your business!

Wednesday, March 27

Noon - 1pm

Hosted by - Rob Wilson - Principal Consultant

with Keller Schroeder

Innovation Campus Room 129

FREE

For more information or to register click HERE.

MI2

REGIONAL TECH COUNCIL PODCAST WITH THE DECESARE GROUP

Check out the latest newsletter from the Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2). The nonprofit organization with a mission to foster innovation in Kentucky’s growing metals industry is headquartered at the WKU Innovation Campus.

For more information on MI2 you can visit their website HERE.

Recently Innovation Campus Member - The DeCesare Group Podcast Jim talks with Rob Wilson and Ron Bunch to discuss the new Regional Tech Council. The Regional Tech Council is a partnership between the WKU Innovation Campus and the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. Jim and his guests will discuss the council's motivations, future goals, and how the community can get involved. Listen HERE.

SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER DAY MARCH 20

What is SBDC Day?

SBDC Day is a national, collective proclamation of the impact America’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) have on the success of our nation’s dreamers, innovators, and doers – America’s small businesses.

SBDC Day unites the nearly 1,000 SBDC centers across the country and the hundreds of thousands of clients they serve by sharing, in real time, the success stories and notable impacts SBDCs collectively have on the small business community. This day will be celebrated with social media campaigns, public relations initiatives, and other online events.

The theme for SBDC Day 2024 is “Nurturing Dreams. Growing Futures.” The nation’s largest and most trusted small business advising program nurtures the dreams of American entrepreneurs and drives prosperity and growth in communities across the United States and its territories.

The eighth annual SBDC Day will occur on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Follow the conversation online by following the hashtag #SBDCDay. For more information email Brittanie Dawson.

PATENT AND TRADEMARK BOOTCAMPS

Unlock the Secrets of Patents and Trademarks: Join One of Our FREE Boot Camps!

Ever been curious about the world of patents and trademarks? Well, here's your chance to dive into the fascinating realm of intellectual property.

What to Expect: Join fellow entrepreneurs, small businesses, startups, and individuals from the ESO community as Kentucky Intellectual Property Alliance's collaboration with USPTO guide you through the essentials of patents and trademarks. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just embarking on your entrepreneurial journey, these boot camps cater to all levels of interest. For more information visit .

Both sessions will be held at the WKU Innovation Campus.

Thursday, April 4 - Patent Bootcamp - Click Here to register.

Friday, April 5 - Trademark Bootcamp - Click Here to register.

WELCOME TO THE WKU INNOVATION CAMPUS

The WKU Innovation Campus would like to say WELCOME to our newest members below and we look forward to working with you.

Alliance Corporation	SmartSpace	Alliance Corporation provides construction services for clients in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Canopy	SmartSpace	Canopy’s mission is to grow Kentucky businesses to reinvest in our communities and our future. Through education, connection, and certification, we help Kentucky businesses participate and succeed within the Good Business movement. Our Vision is simple: Make Kentucky First in Good Business.
Jeffrey Myers	SmartSpace
Night Horse Strategies	SmarSpace	At Night Horse Strategies, our mission is to revolutionize the way small and medium-sized shippers and their trucking partner companies operate. We understand the complexities and challenges that these businesses face in a dynamic and competitive landscape. Our goal is to provide innovative, practical solutions that streamline and simplify their business processes, enabling them to focus on what they do best.
Northwestern Mutual	SmartSpace
Ocheltree Enterprise LLC	SmartSpace

SAVE THE DATE

Click on the image to register.

SATURDAY - MAY 11th

Exciting things are happening. CREATE and the WKU Innovation Campus will be sponsoring a two-part Hackathon series wherein programmers, designers, and innovators are invited to imagine the future of Bowling Green.

WKU INNOVATION CAMPUS HAPPENINGS

AMBER JUDD - Pi Day Winner

AESC

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Pi Day CookOff this week. It was fun getting to try everyone's pie. A special thanks to The PIE QUEEN OF BG for coming out to help judge our pies.

View more photos from the day HERE.

BG2050

Imagining the Bowling Green and Warren County

of the Future

Held their kickoff meeting at the WKU Innovation Campus this week.

“The Western Kentucky University Innovation Campus was a natural launching point for a vision for the future. In the last year, the Innovation Campus partnered with the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerc e to proactively attract a range of new emerging technology and storytelling companies to the area and to work with county and city leaders to build new programs that enhance the cultural standard of living and make it a place where talented people will increasingly want to live.” by Sam Ford

To find out more about BG2050 CONTINUE READING.

KELLER SCHROEDER INNOVATIONS & LIBATIONS

Keller Schroeder held it's Innovation & Libations meeting yesterday at the WKU Innovation Campus. Thanks to everyone who attended. We had a great time celebrating Pi Day and discussing: Project Managment Certifications, Effective Project Managment and how to obtain better outcomes. For more information email Rob Wilson.

BEING AI

Jeanne Lim - Co-founder, CEO

Jeanne with beingAI was in Bowling Green this week and held a brief introduction to extraordinary AI bings(tm).

For more information on beingAI and learn more about Jeanne's work with extraordinary AI beings(tm) visit their website.

FEBRUARY STARTUP GARDEN

Mihreta Heldic

It was a pleasure to have Mihreta Heldic, owner of Velvet Beauty House and real estate broker, as the featured speaker for our Bowling Green Startup Garden at Garcia’s downtown. Thanks again to PNC for sponsoring and to Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, CREATE at WKU Innovation Campus: Central Region Ecosystem for Arts, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, and KY Innovation for their partnership on this series.

KENTUCKY TO THE WORLD

Sam Ford - Board Chair

WKU Innovation Campus Member - Kentucky to the World is a strategic partner to AccelerateKY, with its mission to enhance Kentucky’s intellectual and cultural reputation through stories of extraordinary people with Kentucky roots. Their work supports our mission to connect our innovation ecosystem, inform folks about the future of work and career pathways, and inspire us all to imagine Kentucky’s future.

INNOVATION CAMPUS COMMUNITY QUESTIONS

We are thrilled to announce a fantastic opportunity for your company, business, or lab to shine at the WKU Innovation Campus! Each month, we feature a standout member as our "Member of the Month" in our newsletter and emails, reaching our community of innovators, faculty, and staff at WKU.

Would your company, business or lab like to participate in a Member of the Month? Let us know HERE.

Here at the Innovation Campus, we thrive to foster a sense of community among our talented individuals. We believe that by coming together, sharing ideas, and collaborating, we can achieve incredible things.

Share your ideas with us by clicking HERE.

To further enhance our community experience, we want to hear from you! Do you have an event, training, or any other initiative in mind that you'd like to see offered at the Innovation Campus?