This past week, I was invited out to Denver to enjoy the christening of Norwich University‘s new Innovation and Incubation Hub. While there is more work to be done in the space, I left excited by both the direction and the opportunities this space presents. Let me tell you a little bit about it…
When I began speaking with Daniel Daoust, Director at Norwich University, about his plans for the space, I knew he was on to something. I could feel his passion and excitement. He kept talking to me about his desire to connect with Denver’s community and help drive change through the introduction of new technologies and solutions.
Our conversations quickly divulged into what I see being the primary purposes of an Innovation hub; namely:
- To give local entrepreneurs access to the latest and greatest technologies that they otherwise would not have access to
- Help entrepreneurs get feedback on their solutions from potential customers by partnering with local industry leaders
But that’s not Dan’s only end game. He correctly notes that “[t]his is a great opportunity to drive attention to all the great research being performed at Norwich. Attention that our students might otherwise not receive.”
And he’s right. I think there are multiple wins here. For Norwich, this fills in a gap and allows them to completely own the EduTech vertical. Currently, they have the demand signal from students, student applications, and alumni. They have the talent to build new ideas with students in their Undergraduate programs, College of Graduate and Continuing Studies, and through their Norwich University Applied Research Institute. They have the ability to test ideas through their Norwich Pro program. They can scale the successful ideas to their University program. And now, they have a space to rally together their talent and build new innovative solutions for their Norwich Pro and University programs. Take together, they can perform every function of our InnoSpecting Framework.
This also gives them the ability to do what any good school should do. And that’s set their students up with jobs. In this case, those students would be budding entrepreneurs. And those jobs would be at a startup. But, this space will allow Norwich to nurture that startup and provide it with the education, processes contacts, and technological access that it needs to be successful.
Building Details
You can’t launch a program like this without first finding the perfect location. Which Norwich has done. The location of their Innovation and Incubation Hub is centralized in downtown Denver. In fact, the home of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche is visible from their conference rooms! Check it out on the map below!
And the other thing you need is a space that inspires creativity. There again, Norwich knocked it out of the park. These pictures don’t do it justice, and evidently I missed the large conference room completely, but the space is decked out in all the modern design principles that my wife will drool over.
Outside of the building. Logo looking strong. 
Main floor, which will look much different when the floorplan is finished. 
Classroom capable of holding 16 students 
A reserve look of the main area, with the kitchen area in the top right.
More to Come
In the coming weeks, I’ll provide more detail about where exactly this space fits in within the larger landscape of Innovation hubs. After all, this is the “hot new concept.” However, for now, I’ll simply point out that Norwich has a leg up on the others with their university affiliation which should make it a draw for any serious entrepreneurs.
In the meantime, you can check out the slides that I presented while I was out there below. The slides don’t cover all the material I spoke to but should give you a general idea of what has me excited. And as always, I’m happy to answer any questions on either my topic or questions regarding whether this space is right for you. You can email me at steve@everevolving.biz.
[slideshare id=239059208&doc=npwebinar-stepstodaytoensuretomorrow-denver20201020-201103031631]