Close to 20 academic leaders from the region’s institutions convened at Marquette University on Thursday afternoon to discuss the possibility of an innovation district in the region with greater collaboration among corporations and academics.
At the head of that district is The Commons, a Milwaukee-based startup that will give students from a cross sector of institutions opportunities to engage in entrepreneurial activities while connecting with corporations and mentors.
Leading The Commons is Startup Milwaukee, an organization that equips entrepreneurs with mentors, office space, talent and other resources, and Innovation in Milwaukee (MiKE), an initiative of the Greater Milwaukee Committee that fosters a local entrepreneurial environment.
Together, the organizations envision The Commons as a mentor-driven, seed accelerator program for startups and a program that will exclusively serve entrepreneurial-minded college students.
Matt Cordio, co-founder and chairman of Startup Milwaukee, doesn’t think “many, if any, universities (in the region) offer their students a mentor-driven seed accelerator.”
Nor does any large-scale collaboration among higher education institutions in the entrepreneurship and innovation space exist in southeastern Wisconsin, he said.
“We feel like the value of collaborating across institutions in southeastern Wisconsin will result in significant economic impact for the region,” Cordio said, as The Commons works to both create high-potential growth companies and prepare entrepreneurial students to join existing companies with innovative mindsets.
“It’s really about moving southeastern Wisconsin forward, creating jobs, (and) keeping bright, entrepreneurial and innovative students here in southeastern Wisconsin,” Cordio said.
The Commons, which is currently in incubation, hopes to launch a pilot program late this fall and is targeting a full launch of its programming in May or June 2015.
While the design of the programming is still very much in the works, Startup Milwaukee and MiKE plan to coach students in two tracks – a startup track focused on the development of early-stage companies and a corporate innovation track that will give area corporations access to a pool of student talent.
Both tracks will rely on the guidance of mentors, who will likely be leaders from the community, venture capitalists, funders, corporate professionals – “anyone who really thinks they could help these students grow in the varying aspects we’re providing in The Commons,” said Michael Hostad, executive director of MiKE.
Each track will also give students opportunities to partner with students of other regional academic institutions.
Michael Lovell, Ph.D., president of Marquette University and recently named co-chair of MiKE, is currently the primary academic driver of The Commons. In a letter Lovell penned to other academic leaders inviting them to Thursday’s discussion, he emphasized the need for stronger collaboration among industry and institutions.
“I believe in collaboration,” Lovell wrote. “I believe that if we find more opportunities for the academic institutions to work together, we can attract and retain more talented young people to southeast Wisconsin and better serve our business community by providing an educated workforce and fostering economic growth. Indeed, if we are to see meaningful business development in our region and provide the best opportunities for our students to succeed, we must collaborate.”
The Commons’ innovative model of collaboration has potential to draw national attention, according to Cordio.
“We think this could be a national model for universities to collaborate regionally amongst each other to add to the economic base of the communities they serve by building these startups,” Cordio said.
Moving forward, The Commons is searching for a headquarters for its innovation district with Milwaukee-based Mandel Group, Inc. providing leading support.
“Mandel Group is here to support the efforts of The Commons and find The Commons an appropriate home,” Barry Mandel, president of Mandel Group, Inc., said in a statement. “From our standpoint and first-hand experience with creative, students and startups, The Commons is the conduit between their ideas and making them possible, teaching them entrepreneurial skills that are many times lacking, and facilitating access to capital to drive new businesses, jobs and our regional economy.”
Cordio said that space will likely be in Walker’s Point, a neighborhood he said once was the “entrepreneurial epicenter of Milwaukee.”
Cordio and Hostad also plan to convene members of the region’s business community in the next month to gauge corporate interest in The Commons, after vetting feedback from academic stakeholders.
By priming an “impressive” talent pool of students, The Commons might also draw outside companies to southeastern Wisconsin, according to Hostad.
Could that be an attraction for companies to locate here because of “the easy access to talent?” he asked.
Erica Breunlin is a staff reporter for BizTimes Milwaukee.
