CTNext Announces Finalists for Innovation Places Implementation Grants
Rocky Hill, Conn. (PRWEB) April 25, 2017 -- CTNext, Connecticut’s go-to resource for entrepreneurial support, today announced the finalists for Implementation Grants as part of the Innovation Places program. Innovation Places is a CTNext-run program created to enable communities across the state to become top-tier destinations and magnets for talent and high growth companies. It will create a concentration of entrepreneurs, innovators, tech talent, support organizations and research institutions that come together in dense, walk-able, transit-connected communities.
The program will distribute $30 million to the winning cities and communities over a period of five years to support catalytic projects to stimulate their local innovation ecosystem. A portion of the $30 million has been reserved for the first set of winners with future allocations to be determined by the CTNext board of directors at a later time. CTNext received applications from 12 communities across the state and, following a comprehensive review, the CTNext board of directors has selected the following for advancement to the final stages of the process:
• Central CT (New Britain, Farmington, Berlin)
• Danbury
• Hartford/East Hartford
• New Haven
• New London
• Norwalk
• Stamford
“From our bigger cities to our smaller communities, each application we received was comprehensive and impressive, reflecting the drive among our local leaders to more deeply establish Connecticut as a hub for entrepreneurism and business growth,” said Glendowlyn Thames, executive director of CTNext. “So much excitement, engagement and creative thinking came from all 12 participating communities. As we move ahead in the process, we look forward to visiting with each finalist to learn more about their vision and plans for making their local community an Innovation Place.”
Over the next two weeks, the CTNext Board of Directors will conduct site visits with each of the finalists to view the Impact Areas outlined in each strategic plan. A complete schedule of finalist site visits and public pitches will be available on the CTNext website on Thursday, April 27.
Grant winners will be announced in June.
About CTNext
CTNext is Connecticut’s go-to resource for entrepreneurial support. The goal of the program is to build a more robust community of entrepreneurs and to accelerate startup growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development and capital to foster innovation and create jobs for people in Connecticut. CTNext launched in 2012 and has more than 1,700 members in its network. Visit http://www.ctnext.com for more information.
Greg Kalish, CTNext, http://www.ctnext.com, +1 860-207-8025, [email protected]
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