PHOENIX— Grand Canyon University has opened Canyon Ventures Center, a student-centric innovation and business acceleration center that is unlike any other in Arizona. The center already has over 30 start-ups working in it, seven of which are run by GCU students.
Canyon Ventures is unique among business incubator spaces in that it:
“Our goal is to provide entrepreneurs a collaborative co-working space where they have access to industry leaders, networking and opportunities to obtain investor funding through pitch events,” said Dr. Randy Gibb, Dean of the Colangelo College of Business at GCU. “In exchange, we ask those companies to hire our students who gain invaluable real-world experience while providing low-cost resources as those companies grow their business.”
Approximately 70 GCU students have been hired by the companies located in Canyon Ventures. Students work in a wide range of positions including marketing, app development and customer service.
“For our students, the goal is to get them working for these start-ups early so that when they graduate, they aren’t entry level anymore,” said Robert Vera, Director of Canyon Ventures. “They can walk into a company and say they have two or three years of solid experience.”
Hiring students has become not just something the companies have to do, but something they look forward to doing. “I love the eagerness, the energy,” said Shane Ettestad, CEO and co-founder of HomeKey, one of the start-ups located in Canyon Ventures. “Many of them have already tried small ventures on their own.”
Having the students work in the space has also created opportunities for mentoring.
“When you walk in here, you’re a servant leader now,” said Vera. “You must help the person to the left and to the right of you. It’s a team effort.”
Among the 33 companies in Canyon Ventures are:
About Grand Canyon University: Grand Canyon University was founded in 1949 and is Arizona’s premier private Christian university. GCU is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers more than 230 academic programs, emphases and certificates for both traditional undergraduate students and working professionals. The University’s curriculum emphasizes interaction with classmates, both in-person and online, and individual attention from instructors while fusing academic rigor with Christian values to help students find their purpose and become skilled, caring professionals. For more information, visit gcu.edu.