The KU University Center — KU Entrepreneurship Works for KS — is a collaborative effort between the KU Center for Entrepreneurship in the School of Business and the Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas. It is funded by a University Center Program grant from the Economic Development Administration with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

About

The KU University Center (UC) utilizes university assets to strengthen innovation and competitiveness in Kansas and the Midwest through unique and pragmatic programs in entrepreneurship, the biosciences, and technology. The UC leverages the university’s unique assets—faculty and staff expertise, student manpower, and informational resources, including GIS — to capitalize on economic enhancement opportunities. Specifically, the UC combines the entrepreneurial strength of the KU Center for Entrepreneurship with the information and policy resources of IPSR. The UC recognizes the advantages of collaboration and the opportunity for increased impact in its economic development mission by working with a wide range of university, local, state, regional, and national organizations.

Activities

RedTire, LLC Addresses business shuttering in the rural Midwest by matching retiring business owners with successors from Kansas and other key colleges in the region.	Jayhawk Consulting Provides low-cost consulting assistance to Kansas businesses facing diverse challenges.	CURE focuses on early feasibility studies, technical validation and prototyping, and early market testing.
The Catalyst A business accelerator with the Bioscience & Technology Business Center (BTBC) that provides student entrepreneurs with resources critical to success.	Kansas Regional Data Portal Data portal that assists Kansas regions with their CEDs and other economic development decision-making and planning.	Other Data Resources ResourceNet County Profiles Economic Health Index Kansas Data

Contact Information

Wallace W. Meyer, Jr. Director of Entrepreneurship Programs School of Business Capitol Federal Hall, Room 1030E 1654 Naismith Drive Lawrence, Kansas 66045 (785) 864-7583 wmeyerjr@ku.edu

Genna Hurd Associate Researcher Institute for Policy & Social Research 1541 Lilac Lane, 607 Blake Hall Lawrence, Kansas 66045-3129 (785) 864-4618 ghurd@ku.edu