Located in the old East Elementary School, entrepreneurship has breathed new life into a building rich in history and memories. With significant renovations and modifications, this facility lends itself to housing entrepreneurship activity, including: education, training, manufacturing, events and even housing startup companies themselves. The Atwood Innovation Plaza is successful because of the key stakeholders who play a critical role in building and sustaining the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. These groups include: the Business Resource Center (BRC) and Co-working hub, the Innovation Guidance and Solutions Center, the Makerspace, ACE Academy, the Jarem Hallows Business Incubator, Lovesac Startup Lounge and the Miller Innovation Hub.
Welcome to the Atwood
Innovation Plaza!
The Atwood Innovation Plaza at Utah Tech boasts numerous resources and personnel a student or community member may need to either launch or grow their business.
The Business Resource Center, sponsored by Zions Bank, provides no-cost technical support to startups and innovators. BRC staff are experienced business mentors and offer support in business planning and formation, developing pitch decks, performing customer validation, identifying and pursuing funding/investment, marketing a product/service, and technical education in business, marketing, social media and more.
This center also has six private offices and six open workspaces that are available for startup companies to rent as well as a private podcast and photo studio. This office works in collaboration with the Jarem Hallows Business Incubator, which is focused on developing business concepts from gaps or pain-points within industry.
The Innovation Guidance and Solutions Center supports innovators who are looking to secure patents, trademarks, copyrights and more on their property. This center also works to prototype products during the initial phases of research and development, and is the home to a robust business mentor network that can be leveraged to support early-stage concepts through a company launch.
The Makerspace at Utah Tech includes nearly 8000 sq/ft of prototyping and manufacturing equipment, making it one of the largest makerspaces in the state of Utah. Open to the community, innovators are able to prototype or perform small-run manufacturing on 3-D printers, laser cutters/engravers, wide-format printers, craft machines, sewing machines, electronics and more. The first phase of the Makerspace opened in March 2019 and was expanded due to demand. A wood shop and metal shop were subsequently opened in November 2019.
Several offices of academic innovation are housed at Atwood Innovation Plaza. These offices research and implement innovative teaching methods that can be used both inside and outside the classroom as well as online learning opportunities.
The primary financial contributors to this facility are: Utah Tech University, Lindsay and Laura Atwood, The United States Economic Development Administration, The Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, Zions Bank and Love Sac.
Special Thanks!
The Atwood Innovation Plaza is named after the late Utah Tech University Trustee Lindsay T. Atwood, who was a life long entrepreneur and businessman. His crucial role in the building came from countless hours of work and generous donations.
Lindsay Atwood had a goal to help the community and Utah Tech students have a place to learn, grow, and combine innovation with technology. He is remembered for his kind and caring nature, his talents in the entrepreneurship field, and his passion for teaching and guiding the UT students.
Lindsay Atwood was a hardworking and dedicated man who left an amazing legacy that we strive to carry on.
We would like to thank Lindsay and his family for playing such an important part in the development of the Atwood Innovation Plaza.
