Athens State Center for Lifelong Learning to Create “LaunchBox” Entrepreneurial Center

Published 12:00 pm Thursday, June 2, 2022

On Wednesday, June 2, community members gathered at Athen State University’s Center for Lifelong Learning on the square, where they announced the creation of the LaunchBox Entrepreneurial Center. LaunchBox will support and catalyze entrepreneurship, small business growth, new product development, job creation and economic development efforts for the city of Athens and Limestone County by providing a venue and resources for entrepreneurial efforts.

The LaunchBox Entrepreneurial Center will serve as a collaborative workspace for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, investors, small businesses, idea makers and government for the purpose of creating new jobs, increasing investment and innovating business solutions in Limestone County, according to a spokesperson from ASU.

The center will offer business development assistance, network support, educational programs and facility-based services to budding entrepreneurs in Athens and Limestone County.

The center will provide a multi-use, collaborative workspace, virtual pre-incubator programming, a technology-based conference room and technical support.

The center will work to diversify the regional workforce and will encourage the local labor force to stay local.

“Athens and Limestone County are full of talented and innovative thinkers,” said Andrew Dollar, director of the center. “This project aims to harness the local talent to build an ecosystem throughout Limestone County and encourages creativity, risk-taking and growth. The LaunchBox will serve as a source of economic and community engagement to help generate growth and investment in our area.”

LaunchBox seeks to satisfy the unmet needs of entrepreneurs in Athens and Limestone County by providing a unique experience that isn’t available elsewhere in the county. Previously, local entrepreneurs have had to travel to Huntsville or Florence to receive the services LaunchBox will provide.

The LaunchBox is slated to open on Oct. 1, 2022, and will be located at 121 South Marion Street on the square across from the courthouse.

The LaunchBox project will be a collaborative partnership between Athens State University, the Greater Limestone Chamber of Commerce, the City of Athens, Limestone County Economic Development Association and Main Street Athens.

“It gives me great pleasure today that we’re here today, because we’ve got some funding now,” said president of ASU, Philip Way. “We got a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission that totals $376,000. Half of that came from the ARC and half came from the university, and we’re going to use that money to create an entrepreneurial center here, as well as providing a space for entrepreneurs to get together to comb their products, get advice from people and so on and so forth.”

ASU has long been a supporter of the Athens community. The university seeks to have a reciprocal relationship with the community it resides in by aiding in developing the labor force of North Alabama.

“We’re here to benefit the community in what we call a reciprocal way. That means we benefit the community and then in return, the community does things that help us as a university succeed. Those things that we do include employing a lot of people. We produce graduates that really help supply the labor force needs of Northern Alabama. Most of our students stay in North Alabama. We have one of the highest retention rates in the state. Some other schools they leave, they go out of town and they go out of the state, which is a shame for Alabama,” said Way. “We are different. Our economic impact on the region narrowly defined and using very conservative assumptions is about $200 million a year. and that largely is due to alumni graduating and staying here and being employed here and spending money, which in turn helps other people be employed. So, we have a significant impact on the economy.”

Beyond the local economy, ASU socially and culturally impacts Athens, Limestone County and North Alabama.

“We also do the good things in terms of the community. Some of our students do community service. We have other kinds of events going on, as you know, on campus, lots of concerts, we host the annual Fiddler’s convention. And, all in all, we’re benefiting the community in ways that you might not think of. So, I think that we’re an anchor institution already,” said Way.

The Center for Lifelong Learning opened in 2012 and LaunchBox will serve as an expansion of services already offered.

“About 12 years ago, though, we bought this property on the square, and we put the Center for Lifelong Learning in it. and since then, it has provided various kinds of services, and also events, and I call them kind of cradle to grave activities,” said Way. “But you know, what? The world is changing. Technology, in particular, is really rocking our world and is changing the way we do things. It’s making new products possible, that we never had before. and as a result of that, we feel that there’s a need to move more into a different kind of regional development. Not just graduating people that can fill jobs but helping people who perhaps don’t need a degree. People who need to be in a position that they can come to a place and learn about how to be an entrepreneur. Learn about how to be a businessperson, mixed with other people who are of the same mind. and as a result of that, perhaps produce an innovative product, learn how to market it, learn how to go off on their own, and get their own facilities and so on.”