Furman’s student entrepreneurs can build their businesses in the newly opened Innovation Lab built to bring together startups and established companies alike.
Located in the new Crescent One co-working space at 25 Goldsmith Street in Greenville, the Furman Innovation Lab emerged from years of collaboration between The Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Flywheel Coworking and Hartness Development, among other partners. Crescent One is on the campus of Crescent SC, an innovation district developed by Furman Trustee Emeritus Sean Hartness, CEO of Hartness Development.
“What we will be developing here is a community of 250 to 500 members that love being part of a shared environment,” said Peter Marsh, Flywheel CEO. “We’re bringing together ingredients that are needed for entrepreneurship to thrive.”
With space for individuals to work, offices and suites available to host whole companies, Flywheel and Hartness transformed what was once the Hartness family’s Pepsi bottling plant into works spaces for individuals, offices, suites and conference areas. The site, about 6.5 miles from Furman’s campus along Poinsett Highway, sat vacant for years. Now, the industrial site is a sleek, but welcoming co-working space. At its heart, in one of the suites, is the Furman Innovation Lab.
“This is a launchpad for opportunities around innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Bryan Davis, executive director of The Hill Institute.
Furman’s Center for Innovative Leadership, headed by Garrett Stern, serves mature companies and industries, while The Hill Institute focuses on startup companies. The Innovation Lab will cover the entire business community, from students to seasoned business professionals, Stern said. It serves as an incubator for student entrepreneurs, giving them space to try new concepts and take risks while also providing access to a broader business community within the coworking space to network and connect with.
The goal is that even after graduation or attaining a graduate degree, alumni have a place to keep their businesses connected to the community and resources that helped them succeed.
“What are we doing to retain them after they push their ventures forward?” Davis asked. “We’re creating a pathway here for students to train and grow into their own.”
The workspace is also hosting other Furman programs and services. The Master of Science in Innovation and Leadership program holds its “Fridays in the Field” initiatives there, and the goal is to host leadership training and other programs that are open to the public, Stern said. In this way, Crescent SC and the Innovation Lab serve as an asset not only to students, but the broader business community.
“For us to have Furman’s brand and the different programs The Hill Institute is running there, to have students in the space, we are extremely excited about it,” Hartness said.
Written by Damian Dominguez, Senior Writer, Furman University.