Lorain Innovation Fund Model Going National

Posted byChris Thompson - 02.22.2011

The Lorain County Community College Innovation Fund has attracted a lot of praise throughout Northeast Ohio for making growth capital available to early-stage companies. And now President Obama wants to take the model national.

During his visit to Northeast Ohio on Tuesday, President Obama endorsed plans to create Innovation Fund America patterned after the Lorain program. Innovation Fund America is part of the StartUp America effort announced by President Obama and national business leaders earlier this year. JumpStart, a regional organization that supports entrepreneurs in Northeast Ohio, was chosen earlier this month to lead JumpStart America, another piece of the StartUp America effort.

"Innovation Fund America will offer community colleges across the country access to this resource to grow high-tech entrepreneurs in their own communities, while inspiring students to become the next generation of innovators," said LCCC President Roy Church. Innovation Fund America is affiliated with a new Virtual Incubation Network that Lorain County Community College and nine other colleges will launch with the help of $995,000 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Read the news release here.

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Comments

Arnold Johnson said:
The programs are cool but mostly LCCC students, faculty, affiliated businesses have access or knowledge of. Do not forget many of us who might have good ideas are not in the loop. Not so high-tech entrepreneurs might have a bigger impact. Too much money on doctors, not enough on a food and health culture to stem the need for more doctors. Helping people be sick so that we can fix'em for cash is called pimping. It is a widely applied principle in business today.

Posted: 02-23-2011 at 11:00 AM

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