MSU Denver's Center for Innovation hones unique creative incubator

The Center for Innovation at Metro State University of Denver is readying an online store for Create MSU Denver, described by Director Mick Jackowski as higher education's first virtual incubator for the creative industries.

 

Before the Center of Innovation was launched in 2009, "Only management students were taking entrepreneurial courses," says Jackowski. 'We needed to create an entrepreneurial center that was accessible to all 23,000 students."

 

First order of business: don't say the word entrepreneur. "People don't understand it," says Jackowski. "There are just people who don't think business is for them." Thus the moniker: Center for Innovation. 

 

Secondly, focus on the customer. "That's the way we differentiate ourselves from the Bard Center and the Deming Center," says Jackowski. "They're driven by research and product. We're focused on teaching."

 

To this end, the Center For Innovation offers 10 courses that can add up to a self-directed major or a traditional minor or certificate in entrepreneurship. As of 2013, about 200 students take the courses every semester. The center also has a micro-loan program and an upcoming franchise-oriented program.

 

"Our goal was to reach every major and we've accomplished that," says Jackowski.

 

Launched in September 2012, Create MSU Denver offers access to mentoring, a gallery/showroom and an upcoming e-commerce site for eight clients, who each pay $49 per month.  "It's painting to public relations," says Jackowski of the market. "It's a pretty wide swath. The goal is to help hundreds of creative entrepreneurs."

 

And those entrepreneurs can be based anywhere in Colorado. "You don't have to be a student," adds Jackowski. "We want to be a hub for creative individuals around the state."

Create MSU Denver is hosting an open house at the showroom at 890 Auraria Pkwy. from 4 to 7 p.m.on February 21 showcasing the works of visual artist Jesse Van Horne, a client of the accelerator.