The city of Mobile is celebrating being named one of 51 designees of the inaugural Innovate Alabama Network.
“I want to commend our grants team and Neighborhood Development staff for their work on this effort. We are also grateful to the team at the Innovation Portal for working with our staff throughout the application process,” said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson.
“The Innovate Alabama Network is a major step forward to growing the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Alabama,” said Innovate Alabama CEO Cynthia Crutchfield. “By providing funding and resources to our local communities, nonprofits and higher education institutions, we are developing a statewide network for innovation programming and catalyzing entrepreneurship in all of our communities, both rural and urban.”
The Innovate Alabama Network connects organizations that work to foster innovation. Designees receive up to $250,000 for further innovation.
Innovation Portal in Mobile was also a designee. The nonprofit incubator and innovation hub helps startups in the Gulf Coast region.
Innovate Alabama provided $9.3 million in funds for the 51 designees.
“I’m encouraged and energized to see the overwhelming response to the Innovate Alabama Network,” said Innovate Alabama Board chairman and Alabama State Director of Finance Bill Poole. “We have a diverse ecosystem for innovation in Alabama, so to bring all of these partners together in one place to partner and collaborate together on moving our state forward is a move in the right direction for Alabama.”
Other communities, nonprofit organizations and universities that received the designation were:
City of Auburn
City of Bessemer
City of Dothan
City of Henagar
City of Hoover
City of Marion
City of Pinson
City of Talladega
Shelby County
Town of Pike Road
Alabama Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence
Alabama Trails Foundation
Baldwin County Community and Economic Development Foundation
BioAlabama
Birmingham Bound
Birmingham Business Alliance
Bronze Valley Foundation
Cordova Economic Industrial Development Authority
Ed Farm
Economic Development Partnership of Alabama
Hardware Park
HBCU Cares
Higher Education Partnership
Innovation Depot
Main Street Marion
McWane Science Center
Montgomery Tech Lab
Prosper Foundation
QIE Foundation
REV Birmingham
Singing River Trail
Southern Research
Teach2Lead
The Alabama Collective
The Arc of Madison County
The E-Center
The Overton Project
United Way of Southwest Alabama
Venture for America
Alabama A&M University
Alabama State University
Auburn Lowder Center for Family and Entrepreneurship
Drake State Community and Technical College
Talladega College
Trenholm State University
Troy University
University of Alabama
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of South Alabama
The application process for a second round of Innovate Alabama Network designees is open now.
Learn more about Innovate Alabama at www.innovatealabama.org.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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