‘NOW THE REAL WORK BEGINS’
Entrepreneur incubator supports university, public
Donor Hilliard Crews helps dedicate the new enterpreneurship lab that bears his name at the U of M.
After years of fundraising campaigns, project planning and renovation work, the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship opened for business this week in its splashy debut as the newest training facility at the University of Memphis.
On hand to mark the occasion was a beaming Hilliard Crews, who shook the hands of numerous well-wishers while pledging his continued support for the school’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
And while Crews acknowledged a sense of pride when touring the sleek facility that bears his name, he tempered his remarks with plain-spoken pragmatism by reminding visitors of the center’s purpose.
“It’s exciting for me to see this finally open, and there’s no doubt that it’s a beau- tiful space, but the truth is that now the real work begins,” Crews said. “It’s time to step up and make this a place where entrepreneurship is nurtured and where people can transform ideas into scalable companies.”
The center occupies the former Masonic Lodge at Walker and Patterson at the U of M. The two-story building features individual and shared workspaces for student and faculty entrepreneurs, a prototype shop and product-design lab and the office of the school’s Entrepre- neurship MBA program. Workshops and entrepreneurial programs will be held at the site, along with one-on-one mentoring and counseling services for new entrepreneurs.
Conceived as primarily a resource for the university population, the center will also offer myriad entrepreneurship services and programs to the public at little or no charge. Startups will be housed in the pre-incubator space with the goal of transferring to an accelerator environment like EmergeMemphis.
“This is where students and faculty members will have resources to develop their ideas into startups and get the foundation they need to take those companies to the next level,” said Mike Hoffmeyer, interim director of the center. “We want to encourage a diverse group of startup ideas here and offer entrepreneurs solid training that will enable them to create sustainable companies and create jobs. We’ll also be working with them to perfect their pitches so that they’ll know how to approach investors and what to