Weber State gets $750K grant to aid high-tech entrepreneurs
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- Zach Golden, right, manager of what used to be called the USTAR building at Hill Air Force Base, discusses the significance of a $750,000 grant Weber State has received to help bolster offerings at the facility, on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Guy Letendre, Weber State’s economic development director, looks on.
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- Guy Letendre, Weber State’s economic development director, gestures to an assortment of materials at the facility that used to be called the USTAR building, now managed by the university, on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Weber State received a $750,000 grant to help bolster offerings at the Hill Air Force Base facility.
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- Zach Golden, right, manager of what used to be called the USTAR building at Hill Air Force Base, and Guy Letendre, Weber State’s economic development director, are pictured at the facility on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Weber State received a $750,000 grant to bolster offerings at the facility.
HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Weber State University has secured a $750,000 federal grant that it plans to use to help bolster the entrepreneurial sector of Northern Utah.
The funds, coming from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, or EDA, and meant, specifically, to boost entrepreneurship in the tech sector, will be used to beef up operations at what was previously known as the Utah Science, Technology and Research building, or USTAR. The building, which sits just outside Hill Air Force Base’s west gate, use to be managed by the state of Utah but, per 2021 legislation, Weber State now oversees it. It’s been renamed the Northern Utah Accelerator, at least for now, and the building has been repainted with purple accents to mark the Weber State connection.
Guy Letendre, Weber State’s economic development director, said a big chunk of the grant money, about $435,000, will be used to acquire machinery and technology meant to help area businesses, entrepreneurs and others make prototypes, devices they need for their varied innovations. The new technology will be used to complement existing 3D printers, a water jet cutter and other high-tech devices at the makerspace facility inside the building.
“I can’t find another makerspace for entrepreneurs north of Salt Lake,” Letendre said. “It’s a unique place.”
The grant funds are meant, in part, to aid with “advanced materials manufacturing and incubation,” according to the EDA. “Consistent feedback from entrepreneurs, especially those in the advanced materials space, centers upon the lack of a location to build and test prototypes of new products,” the EDA said.
Indeed, Letendre foresees growth in the high-tech sector thanks to the funding.
“With regional expertise in aerospace, defense and outdoor products, having a location for entrepreneurs, private industry and the air force base to create and evaluate prototypes will hopefully accelerate new ideas and businesses,” he said in a statement.
Part of the $750,000 will also be used for “mentoring and support services” for entrepreneurs, the EDA said. The Northern Utah Accelerator building houses office and conference space and Letendre foresees networking events and training sessions geared to the sector.
The new programming will be particularly helpful to the engineering and aerospace industries, said Tulinda Larsen, executive director of the Utah Advanced Material and Manufacturing Initiative. Her group is partnering in the initiative with Weber State and Grow Utah, a nonprofit focused on aiding entrepreneurship.
Zach Golden, who manages the Northern Utah Accelerator, said making the costly equipment at the facility accessible is significant because it might not otherwise be available to many smaller businesses and entrepreneurs.
“We want the advanced equipment to be available to everybody, not just the big guys,” Golden said. “You want the little guys to have a chance, too.”
Letendre also hopes to involve Weber State students and faculty at the facility, perhaps in assisting the companies that use it.