Blackstone LaunchPad is Now Open for Business

The grand opening for MSU’s new Blackstone LaunchPad was held on Friday, November 22 in its new home next to the Union Market on the second floor of the Strand Union Building. The ribbon-cutting event was held at 12:30 p.m. and included several speakers: Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian, MSU President Waded Cruzado, Blackstone Advisory Partners’ Managing Director Patrick Schumacher, JJCBE alumnus and entrepreneur, Ryan Rickert, and representatives from Montana’s congressional delegation.

The Blackstone LaunchPad is a collaboration of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, MSU, the University of Montana, and Headwaters RC&D (Resource, Conservation, and Development). The program, intended to train the region’s next generation of entrepreneurs, is made possible by a three-year, $2 million grant from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation.

Both MSU students and alumni will be able to use the LaunchPad to vet and develop ideas and receive venture coaching from staff and trained volunteers. Students and alumni will also be able to utilize the Blackstone network to draw upon the expertise of venture coaches located across the nation.

Blackstone LaunchPad is designed to foster connections between the university campus, business community, and local entrepreneurs to create an environment that nurtures young entrepreneurs and provides them the skills and network necessary to succeed.

Rob Irizarry, an entrepreneur and founder of StartupBozeman.com, has been selected to be the director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at MSU. Irizarry and other Blackstone LaunchPad staff will interact with MSU students and alumni and help guide them as they develop their ideas into entrepreneurial opportunities. Irizarry will also work closely with Pamela Haxby Cote, regional director of the Blackstone LaunchPad, as well as staff from the University of Miami, where a program developed in 2008 became the model for the Blackstone LaunchPad.

“We are at a unique point in history where entrepreneurship has become a more accessible and viable career path than ever before,” Irizarry said. “I’m thrilled to join the LaunchPad program. By leveraging existing processes and collaborating with the MSU Leadership team to make this program accessible to the entire student population, we have the opportunity to significantly grow the number of students who pursue entrepreneurship. Companies will be built and jobs will be created as a result.”

Blackstone LaunchPad is modeled after a successful program developed at the University of Miami in 2008, which has generated 1,633 business proposals, 324 new jobs, and drawn nearly 2,938 participants. Each new regional program is linked together, drawing ideas and best practices from the existing programs, giving student entrepreneurs access to a national community of over 200,000 of their peers across nine affiliated campuses and expert advisers for their ventures.

MSU Blackstone LaunchPad website: http://montana.thelaunchpad.org
LaunchPad Grand Opening Press Release: http://www.montana.edu/news/12278/grand-opening-for-msu-s-blackstone-launchpad-set-for-nov-22