The next big thing in startups could sprout from an unexpected source: one of four new entrepreneurial makerspaces located at Western Pennsylvania colleges.
The Community College of Allegheny County, Westmoreland County Community College, Penn State New Kensington’s Digital Foundry and Indiana University of Pennsylvania each received $1.5 million from Build Back Better grants.
The colleges will use the funds to create makerspaces to cater to budding entrepreneurs and small-business manufacturers in the early stages of getting their tech-based products off the ground.
Sherri McCleary, executive director of the Digital Foundry at Penn State New Kensington, noted that the programs, including her university’s own “Innovation Forge” program, are not as much like traditional artisan “makerspaces” as they are centers for manufacturing innovation.
“We’re helping existing…
