GORP receives $1.2 million federal grant to scale incubator
by November 9, 2023 5:24 pm 799 views
The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, will give $1.17 million to the University of Arkansas to expand a business incubator statewide. The state will provide a $1 million match for the project.
On Thursday (Nov. 9), the Department of Commerce announced the UA is one of 60 recipients of a Build to Scale grant. In its 10th year, the annual grant program will provide $53 million in grants for programs that support technology entrepreneurs, innovation and economic growth.
The federal grant will support the expansion of the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP), a business incubation program of the UA’s Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (OEI). GORP is focused on helping outdoor recreation startups and is based at the Collaborative, the UA’s education and research hub in Bentonville. GORP’s fourth 12-week business incubator started Aug. 29.
“The EDA grant is important proof of concept that a sector-specific approach to business development can attract follow-on funding from the federal government and expand across the state,” said OEI Executive Director Sarah Goforth. “We are thrilled to take what we have learned through GORP and extend it statewide, in partnership with universities and other organizations in those regions.”
The EDA grant project, GORP Around the State, will allow GORP to bring business development workshops, industry events and experienced mentors to entrepreneurs across Arkansas. GORP will collaborate with the UA School of Law to provide entrepreneurial law sessions to help founders with operating agreements and other business formation documents.
GORP will focus on communities within the range of four state parks that were recently designated as economic Opportunity Zones: Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Mena, Petit Jean State Park in Morrilton, Pinnacle Mountain State Park in Roland and Delta Heritage Trail State Park in West Helena.
Former retail executive and entrepreneur Phil Shellhammer has led GORP since October 2021. One of his goals for the incubator is to replicate the GORP model across the state, as some entrepreneurs can’t attend the incubator that’s hosted in Bentonville.
“It’s not going to be a perfect copy and paste,” Shellhammer said. “The program might not be the exact same length. The funding mechanism will be different. But the majority of the program, we’re trying to keep as consistent as possible.”
Over three months ago, Gov. Sarah Sanders asked for $1 million to be the match if GORP were to receive the grant, Shellhammer said. The project will also include in-kind contributions, such as labor. He said a program manager will be hired to manage the project. The plan is to spend one-quarter of the year in each of the four areas.
“The way these grants work is the funding is for growth,” Shellhammer said. “It’s not to sustain the current version. It’s to grow something new. The GORP Around the State piece is completely new programming, so we needed somebody to run just that one piece. I’ll still be in charge of the core program that’s…in Northwest Arkansas.”
Shellhammer noted that the project is expected to start in January, but the business incubators for the areas won’t start then. They will be designed to meet the needs of each focus area.
According to the EDA website, GORP will work with state government, nonprofits, colleges and universities, and entrepreneurial support organizations to “foster outdoor recreation innovation clusters in underserved communities that have remained insulated from the technical assistance, training and talent flows necessary to build businesses capitalizing on Arkansas’ natural assets. The program will create structures that support entrepreneurs in building their businesses locally, which will, in turn, promote resilience and economic development as part of an industry that state officials have championed as one of Arkansas’ primary economic engines.”
Since it started in spring 2022, GORP’s semiannual cohort program has helped to launch 25 startups and expand their businesses. GORP has also supported more than 300 entrepreneurs through its a la carte services, which include workshops, networking events, one-on-one consulting and access to coworking space.
“People associate outdoor recreation with fun — and it is that,” Shellhammer said. “But as an industry, it also makes up 2% of Arkansas’ GDP and creates more than 40,000 jobs. This grant and the generous match from the state of Arkansas will allow us to double-down on that strength, bringing high-paying jobs, visibility and tourism dollars to the state, which will have a big ripple effect on families and communities.”