Contact:
Buddy Steen, 270-792-3414
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - An Allen County corporation has created an internship program with Western Kentucky University to promote economic development within its local community.
According to WKU President Gary Ransdell, Halton Group Americas recently made a $50,000 gift, which will be matched by $50,000 through the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Regional University Excellence Trust Fund, to create the Halton Fund for Economic Development in Allen County.
"Once it is fully funded, income from $100,000 endowment will be instrumental in the start-up of the Allen County Small Business Accelerator and will solely benefit Allen County's economic development by assisting business and industry in Allen County," Dr. Ransdell explained.
Dr. Ransdell said that, on an annual basis, the Allen County Technical Innovation and Vocational Education board (ACTIVE) will determine, through a county economic development needs assessment, where each student's internship should be focused.
"The recipient of the scholarship and internship may come from different disciplines, depending upon the county's needs, providing flexibility and truly making the program interdisciplinary," Dr. Ransdell said. "The program will be managed by a partnership between the WKU Foundation and the WKU Small Business Accelerator."
Halton Group Americas President Rick Bagwell said it is a strongly held belief at Halton that a good company always gives back to the community in which it is located. "The community itself is a stakeholder within the company, and the community should prosper due to the locating of our operations within it," he explained.
Bagwell said this endowment will benefit the Allen County community in four distinct ways:
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By developing a small business incubator/accelerator within Allen County, aspiring entrepreneurs will have a structured environment in which to develop and evolve their ideas into successful small businesses and draw on the vast resources that WKU has established to assist in this process.
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By assisting in the creation of small business, the city and county will further develop their tax base and be more competitive in the search and location of new businesses to the region.
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By working through the ACTIVE Consortium and supplying needs assessments, existing businesses will be able to identify operational needs and garner free resources to further strengthen company operations and become even more competitive in their particular marketplaces -- making employment even more secure within the region.
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By adding the program, WKU gives its students an accredited avenue through which to garner real-world experience for post-graduate job placement, and gives aspiring students from Allen County another avenue to receive financial aid in their endeavors for secondary education.
Buddy Steen, executive director of the Small Business Accelerator at WKU's Center for Research and Development, said that the Farmer's National Bank in downtown Scottsville is being considered as one of the possible locations for the Accelerator.
"The facility will have the capacity to host a number of small businesses and will be modeled after the successful Small Business Accelerator we have in Bowling Green," he said. "It will offer a place for companies to start immediately with commercial fiber-optic connectivity and other resources. These businesses will be able to draw from local, regional, state and federal the resources. For example, WKU's four-year fully-accredited engineering program provides an essential technology-based
workforce for companies that will be starting and growing in Allen County. Additionally, we have other programs at WKU such as our applied research programs that can be leveraged to start and grow companies. Bottom line: The Allen County Small Business Accelerator will create opportunities and jobs for Allen County and Scottsville."
Bagwell said WKU was a logical partner for this program, as it demonstrated the ability to make a large impact with the available resources. "WKU has proven, time and time again, its own commitment to our communities, our children, and to the advancement of our region as a whole," he said. "The expertise within the WKU team in looking at the advantages and disadvantages of gift applications ensures that the resource given will be optimized to receive the greatest impact.
"If you want to gain insight into the role WKU is playing in regional economic development, one need look no farther than the WKU Small Business Accelerator, located in the WKU Research and Development Center," he said. "The brainchild of WKU President Gary Ransdell and Representative Jody Richards, under the direction of Buddy Steen, the operation is a model for fostering entrepreneurship within the region. The resources and financial commitment the University displays to the economic
development of the region is to be commended, and it is exciting and comforting to know that the development and operation of the Allen County site will be under the direction of the same management team."
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