NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, a nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurship, has been awarded a $1 million federal grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, federal, state and local officials said Monday.
The grant will help the organization purchase and complete renovations at its downtown North Little Rock facility, the Argenta Innovation Center, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Matt Erskine said in a news conference at the facility.
“With its focus on providing critical education, training and prototyping to boost entrepreneurial opportunities in Arkansas, this investment in the Innovation Hub is a testament to our focus at EDA on helping communities like North Little Rock capitalize on our innovative spirit to create the next generation of businesses,” Erskine said.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said, “We have momentum in Arkansas — and I’m excited about that — in every sector. But it takes an innovation hub like this to make it work, to bring those ideas together and to give them legs and meaning.”
The Regional Innovation Hub already has put about $1 million into the facility, which opened in January. Previous funding has come from a combination of public, private and nonprofit sources, including a $251,105 grant provided by the Delta Regional Authority in December 2013.
The federal grant announced Monday will fund renovations including the creation of a resource center for entrepreneurs, to be known as The Silver Mine.
The Argenta Innovation Center is already home to three other programs: The Launch Pad, a work space equipped with 3-D printers and other cutting-edge technology; The STEAM Lab, a classroom and laboratory space for science, technology, engineering and math pursuits; and The Art Connection, a program for high school students that develops leadership and innovation through the visual arts.
State Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock, the hub’s executive director, said the organization also recently received federal support from the White House program Local Foods, Local Places “to develop a food innovation center that leverages what we’ve already built here to stimulate more innovation and economic development in the food and agriculture industries.”
“The Innovation Hub has done a lot in a year and a half, but we’re only now just getting started,” Sabin said. “Thanks to this grant and the support of all of you, our friends and partners, our potential to create opportunities for Arkansans is unlimited.”
Also participating in the news conference were Chris Masingill, federal co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority; U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock; North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith; Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde; and Winrock International CEO Rodney Ferguson.